ORMOND BEACH, Fla. – Nearly eight years after her disappearance, detectives have identified human remains found two years ago in Flagler County as those of a 31-year-old Holly Hill woman killed in 2011, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
Volusia deputies said Monday that a DNA match confirmed the remains belonged to Mandy Ciehanoski, whose killer is already serving a life sentence for second-degree murder.
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Both Volusia and Flagler deputies, as well as the St. Johns County Medical Examiner's Office, were notified of the match Thursday by officials at the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification after the remains had been compared to DNA samples collected during the Volusia County Sheriff's Office's investigation, according to a news release. Ciehanoski’s family was notified shortly after, deputies said.
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Ciehanoski was reported missing Feb. 14, 2011, one week after her family had last seen her. Investigators later determined Ciehanoski's ex-boyfriend, Michael Annicchiarico, was with her the day she disappeared, despite him telling authorities he hadn't seen her in two years, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Blood evidence was eventually found in Annicchiarico's closet, trash and vehicle, deputies said. Months later, he was indicted on murder charges in connection with her death.
In 2014, Annicchiarico pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life behind bars.
Annicchiarico said he left Ciehanoski's body in a wooded area, but all search efforts at that time were unsuccessful, the release said.
Ciehanoski's remains were eventually found in November 2016, after a drone crashed in a wooded area just north of Ormond Beach in Flagler County, deputies said.
Deputies said Monday that both law enforcement agencies, along with the State Attorney's Office's homicide investigation unit, had never given up on finding Ciehanoski in hopes of providing some sort of closure to her family.