NEW YORK CITY — The remains of Sierra Shields were found washed up on the shoreline of Rikers Island this week, bringing to an end the eight-month search for the missing Astoria flight attendant, police said Friday.
Detectives from the 114th Precinct in Queens responded to a call about the body around 3:10 p.m. Wednesday on Rikers Island, according to the NYPD. They were joined by officials from the Medical Examiner's office, who later confirmed that the remains did indeed belong to the missing woman, police said.
The Medical Examiner has not yet determined a cause of death.
Shields, 30, was last seen around noon on Jan. 14, wearing a navy dress and leaving her job at LaGuardia Airport. Family members at the time said she seemed upset just days before, and she was reported missing after not returning to her apartment.
Shields' family traveled back and forth from their home in the suburbs of Chicago to New York in order to help publicize her case. Parents Chris and Donna Shields say their daughter had asked to speak to a union representative at work that day, for an unknown reason.
Later, surveillance footage shows her exiting an airport terminal before starting her shift, they said.
Immediately after she went missing, a Facebook account, "Find Sierra Shields," was set up to help spread the word and share information about Shields' disappearance. As of Saturday morning, there have been no updates on the Facebook page, though supporters and followers began to show their support shortly after the news was announced Friday.
Shields was also a member of the Teamsters' Union, which in February offered up a $10,000 reward for information leading to her recovery.
