Body of Holly Ellsworth-Clark found in Hamilton Harbour, death not considered suspicious

Holly Ellsworth-Clark's body has been found and Hamilton police say her death doesn't appear to be suspicious.

Hundreds of volunteers spread out across the city looking for the 27-year-old, who had been missing since Jan. 11, just months after moving from Calgary.

Her family has received an outpouring of support on social media in the wake of her death.

"Thank you to everyone who has been involved in the search for our girl. We are heartbroken that this is how her story ends," read a statement from Ellsworth-Clark's family.

Staff-Sgt. Dave Oleniuk  told CBC the discovery came after a worker near Pier 11 spotted what appeared to be a body floating in Hamilton Harbour on Tuesday.

He said the decomposition was extensive, which leads police to believe the body was in the water for quite some time, though they aren't exactly sure how long.

Her body was sent to the Centre for Forensic Sciences to be identified. Police say staff at the centre confirmed the remains are those of Ellsworth-Clark.

Officers never did search the water while looking for Ellsworth-Clark.

"Searching the bay, that's a huge, huge area... There was nothing to indicate that at the time," Oleniuk explained.

"The water is well trafficked, not the clearest water and you need a starting point and the other thing is once a body hits the water, there's all kinds of factors at play whether they go down or rise to the surface or the currents and everything else."

Ellsworth-Clark was last seen on Jan. 11 by her roommates at home. The last confirmed sighting of her was walking north on Wentworth Street toward Shaw Street in the afternoon.

Police say she appeared to be "suffering from some distress but was otherwise healthy and athletic" before she left that day.

Despite that, police haven't classified the death as a suicide either. Oleniuk said the coroner still needs to do an autopsy and toxicology report.

Family was searching for truth

Holly's family arrived from Calgary the next day, rallying hundreds of volunteers over several weeks who fanned out through the city looking for any sign of her.

Her family found multiple unconfirmed pieces of surveillance footage that they believe may have been her. They even mapped out the path they think she walked. But none of it got them closer finding her.

They headed back to Calgary in March to rest, but returned to Hamilton in June, offering a reward for information about her disappearance.

"We want to know the truth," her father Dave Clark told CBC at the time.

"If Holly is not alive, we believe she would have passed away in Hamilton," added Elle McFearsin, Holly's former boss and one of the leaders of the earlier search efforts.

"We would really love closure in whatever form that takes, if she's alive, which is much preferred we would like to know and if not, we still want to know."

Holly was born in Newfoundland, raised in Calgary and moved to Hamilton in October 2019 to pursue music.

She was a champion amateur wrestler and political science grad from the University of Calgary.

"Hamilton Police and Holly's family conducted a thorough investigation including ground search, social media posts and continued to follow up on various leads and tips with negative results," say police, thanking the public for helping with the effort.

Anyone with information that could help police is asked to contact Crime Stoppers or Det. John Obrovac by calling 905-546-3816.