THE daughter of a mother who was killed and dumped in a ditch has spent £11,000 in the search to find her missing bones.
Jamie Lynn Donavon McDonald, 62, vanished in May 2024 weeks later some of her remains were discovered in a ditch near her Florida home.
Her family believe she became addicted to prescription medication after suffering a serious back injury in a car accident six years earlier.
Reports say it was that “desperation” for drugs that led her into danger.
Luequita Sclesky and her husband, Duane David Sclesky, have been charged with Jamie’s murder.
Detectives allege they used stolen personal information to access the victim’s bank account after they killed her.
Both suspects were arrested in June 2024 and charged with first-degree murder.
They are awaiting trial, though no date has yet been set.
While the criminal case moves forward, Jamie’s family are still searching for closure.
Not all of her remains have been recovered and her daughter, Hope Yates-McDonald, 32, has made it her mission to find them.
So far, she has recovered 15 of her mother’s bones – she believes 10 to 12 are still missing.
Hope, from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, said: “The last year and a half of my life has revolved around recovering my mum.
“I’ve learned underwater recovery, worked with forensic experts – everything.
“Right now, I’m still looking for her. I’m still busy. Once I find the rest of her, I think I’ll be able to accept that she’s gone.
“Mum was in a car accident, she hurt her back real bad, so the doctor prescribed her an unnecessary amount of pain medicine.
“I don’t want that to be a memory of my mum, her addiction, but it kind of just spiralled for her and led her to mixing up with the wrong people.”
Hope said learning the details of her mother’s death was devastating.
“It was a relief that she wasn’t missing anymore, but then I learned how violently she had been killed.
“They thought my mum wouldn’t have anyone looking for her. They didn’t realise we would never stop.”
After visiting the ditch where her mother’s remains were first found to lay flowers, Hope made a discovery that changed everything.
“I saw bones at the bottom, in the middle of the water. I accidentally discovered the first missing bone of my mothers – we didn’t even know she was missing them.”
Determined to continue the search herself, Hope began teaching herself underwater recovery techniques.
She took up scuba diving and trained in search methods suited to low-visibility water.
“When you step into that creek, you lose vision immediately. I’ve used stretchers, floats – I’ve even searched with my hands.”
She has worked alongside specialist dogs trained to detect human remains and even enlisted the help of a rescue otter named Splash, trained to locate bones underwater.
Since June, Hope has poured everything into the search.
She sold her home and moved into an apartment to help fund the recovery effort.
To continue the mission to recover the rest of her mother’s remains, she has launched a GoFundMe page.
Hope is now preparing to face her mum’s accused killers in court.
“I want them to know who she was. She was the sun, and that’s what they took,” she said.
“If I could tell them something, I would tell them this – you took something that is not replaceable.
“What you did will not go unnoticed, and I will not stop until I bring my mum home.”
