A discovery on the weekend brought a tragic close to the missing-person case of 19-year-old Amber Kirwan.

Police found human remains in Heathbell, Pictou County, on Saturday and confirmed yesterday they belonged to Kirwan. The young nursing student went missing Oct. 9 after leaving Dooly’s in New Glasgow.

Police are not confirming how she perished, but they say her death is considered a homicide.
An autopsy will be performed sometime this week.

“It is with overwhelming sadness and grief that our worst fears were realized (Saturday),” Kirwan’s family wrote in a public statement. “Our beloved Amber will not be coming home to us. Words cannot express the sorrow and sense of loss we feel.”

Her remains were uncovered in a wooded area on a farm property ‘ the same area where police conducted a two-day search three weeks before.

“There was sufficient grounds to apply to a justice for a search warrant to go onto that property,” said Const. Bill Rudolph, RCMP spokesman.

Rudolph said it wasn’t any one tip but a culmination of investigative steps that led police to obtain a warrant to search the area.

Kirwan’s family said her “needless” death is something they will never get over.

“We cannot imagine life without her. She was so young and it breaks our hearts to think of all of the good things in life she will not get to experience,” the statement read.