Three years after 14-year-old Samantha Humphrey disappeared in upstate New York, her ex-boyfriend, who was also 14 at the time, is being charged with her murder. The boy, now 17, whose name has not been released due to his age, pleaded not guilty. As he awaits trial, Samantha’s father, Jeff Humphrey, and aunt, Nica Joy, exclusively tell In Touch what they want the world to know about the late teen.

“[She was] so smart. She taught herself to read when she was 3. She was incredibly gifted in math, and one of her grandmothers told me that she had hoped that Sam would work at NASA one day, but Sam was very interested in forensic science, and that was the path that she had planned to follow,” Joy tells In Touch Investigates’ Kristin Thorne. “She was so funny. I mean, she could, she could just find humor anywhere. And she just always had this way of making you laugh, even when you were down or sad.”

Joy also says that Samantha was an “incredibly empathetic child” and a “great kid.”

“She was the center of our family,” she adds.

Meanwhile, Jeff says that the “things that made Sam special were also her downfall.”

“She was fearless,” he continues. “She believed that she had a place in the world. She believed that she could make things happen, that she could make good things happen, for God knows what reason, she believed in love.”

Jeff adds that Samantha “found good in” her ex-boyfriend “and was not appropriately afraid of” him.

Samantha disappeared in Schenectady, New York, in November 2022, after she was last seen at a local park. Three months later, her body was found in a local river close to where she had gone missing. Her on-off boyfriend has been accused of strangling her to death in the midst of a heated argument. According to the district attorney, it’s believed that Samantha may have thought she was pregnant and told the boy, who didn’t want the baby. The boy was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in May.

In Touch reached out to the boy’s attorney, who declined to comment.

Jeff says that he only saw his daughter’s ex once “about three or for weeks before she died.” Prior to that, he hadn’t seen him in “about a year.”

“This is a person who I went through every avenue I could to protect my daughter from, and failed, but whatever relationship Sam had with him after that, obviously she kept from me because she knew that my reaction would be maximal,” he says.

When police began searching the river for Samantha, Joy says they “made it clear fairly early on” that she was deceased.

“They had eight agencies in the water searching for her, and they were not looking anywhere else,” she says. “They had drones, divers, dogs. They had Red Cross Search and Recovery. They even lowered the water level to make it easier to find her.”

Jeff adds, “When the police began to search the river, it became pretty clear they knew things we didn’t know, and that the situation was pretty desperate.”

Jeff concludes that he can’t give enough thanks to the people who “helped us with our publicity campaign, who helped with the billboards, who helped with the law and science, to help build the reward, to help spread awareness.”

“So anybody listening who supported Samantha with your time, with your money, with your front lawn, with your eyeballs, we thank you and we love you for supporting Sam and supporting us,” he says.

Meanwhile, Joy says, “Although Sam is deceased and she was taken from us, she’s still here with us. She’s still very much a part of our family. You know, when we get together, I mean, her name comes up constantly, and in many ways, it’s like she’s still right here with us. Her memory is still very much alive with us.”