A partially buried body discovered in Detroit has been identified as a woman who was reported missing in November, authorities said.
The remains were those of Alyssa Itchue, the Wayne County medical examiner's office said Monday.
Police were contacted after a utility worker last week spotted a hand in the ground.
"I just felt in my heart that it was her," Itchue's mother, Sonia Smith, told WXYZ-TV.
BODY OF MISSING UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA STUDENT FOUND IN MISSISSIPPI RIVER
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Smith said her 28-year-old daughter was released from a drug-treatment center in September but didn't have stable housing.
"I truly believe that somebody hurt her. I mean, who would have buried her?" Smith said. "If it was just an overdose, she wouldn’t have been buried. In my heart, I feel that somebody hurt her."
Friends created a GoFundMe page to pay for a funeral.