Family of Jerica Hamre healing after body found 18 months after disappearance

Jerica Hamre’s family says that in the 18 months between their daughter’s disappearance and when her body was found, one organization offered hope.Craig and Lisa Hamre, Jerica’s parents, called the nonprofit Bring Em Home Nebraska in the weeks after reporting their daughter missing on July 3, 2024. The group, founded by Erik Rezabek, aids in organizing volunteer searches for missing persons.”I kind of prepared myself for that, like maybe we’ll never find her. And what am I going to do?” Lisa Hamre said. “Erik would always say, well, I’m not giving up. And that gave us hope, even when the search would turn up with nothing being found. We knew, ‘OK, well, there’s going to be another one.'”READ MORE: Body of missing Lincoln woman found 18 months after disappearance, Lincoln police confirmCraig and Lisa Hamre say prior to their daughter’s disappearance, Jerica was breaking through on her struggle with addiction. The mom-of-two had gotten a job as a dog groomer and planned to visit her parents and two daughters.”I think she hid it because she wanted to be able to overcome things on her own. She wanted to be able to have victories and share those areas that she was struggling with,” Lisa said. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Missing Lincoln mother reported assault three days before she disappearedRezabek organized 17 searches in attempts to cover a search area of over 1200 square miles in central Nebraska, using tips from investigators with Lincoln Police.”There’s no option to stop. I won’t let myself. I always feel like somebody is pushing me to keep going,” Rezabek said.In December 2025, a man surveying land in rural Furnas County found Jerica’s remains in an old farm shed, according to the Lincoln Police Department. The site was just miles from Craig and Lisa’s family home, and from search sites that Bring Em Home Nebraska had mapped.”I think we all, our whole family, had some fragments of hope that she would still be found, even though from pretty much the beginning we thought that she had passed away. But when that news came and those little bits of hope that we had held on to were gone,” Lisa said.ADDITIONAL COVERAGE: Lincoln investigators, K-9s search property in connection to disappearance of missing womanThey say they hope that other families in similar situations will take advantage of Bring Em Home Nebraska.”It’s a process. But we have a great support staff and a great deal of faith, and it’s really carried us through this difficult time,” Craig Hamre said.Lincoln Police are now investigating her death as a homicide. They have identified a person of interest, who they say is in prison on unrelated charges.”I’m very confident that there’s going to be justice in this case, just from some things that we know,” Rezabek said.Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |