Working over the weekend, forensic investigators were able to confirm that the remains matched dental records for Anyanwu-Corbin, a Nigerian immigrant who was last seen in February 2016, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said Monday.
But that’s just one part of the puzzle. Authorities are asking for more help, Morrissey said, making his second public appeal in 72 hours for a break in the case.
“This does not mark the end of the investigation but, really, it’s more like a more difficult beginning,” Morrissey said, joined by Dedham police and State Police investigators.
“We’re looking for information about her disappearance — people who may have socialized with her, resided with her, worked with her, corresponded on Facebook, or even been socially friendly with her, to help us now identify her movements during that period of time” when she was last seen.
Anyanwu-Corbin, described as outgoing and caring, may have been missing for as long as three months before an uncle, George Corbin of Cambridge, reached out to Boston police last May, after being unable to track her down to notify her about a death in the family.
Her boyfriend at the time of her disappearance, Junior Bernard, told the Globe Monday that her former boyfriend had abused her and threatened her life.
When Bernard, 24, last saw Anyanwu-Corbin in February 2016, he said, she had a cut on her face where her former boyfriend had punched her, angry that she was dating Bernard.
“I was like, ‘This dude is crazy.’ And she was like, ‘He said he’s going to kill me if I keep talking to you,’ ” Bernard said. Anyanwu-Corbin told him that she had reported the assault to police.
Around that time, the former boyfriend also came to Bernard’s home and started a fight, he said.
Bernard showed reporters a police report he filed Feb. 11, 2016, in which he alleged that the former boyfriend had assaulted Anyanwu-Corbin on Feb. 10 and had been harassing both of them for several weeks.
At about 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 11, according to the report, the former boyfriend appeared at Bernard’s home wearing a mask and carrying a baseball bat.
In the report, Bernard said he had taken the bat from the former boyfriend before he could strike Bernard. He said the former boyfriend left saying, “I will be back.”
JEREMY C. FOX FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE
Junior Bernard spoke Monday, after the remains were identified as those of Anyanwu-Corbin, his girlfriend.
According to police, Corbin, the uncle, was unable to reach her by phone that May and found a new tenant living in what he thought was her Dorchester apartment when he tried to reach her in person.
He filed the missing-persons report last May 8, though the poster released by police said she was last seen Feb. 11 around Adams Street in Dorchester. The poster described her as a light-skinned black woman with black hair, brown eyes, and a nose ring, about 5 feet 5 inches tall and 120 pounds.
A relative who identified himself as a family spokesman but declined to give his name told the Globe Monday that Anyanwu-Corbin came over from Nigeria shortly before her 18th birthday, sponsored by another family member. She attended West Roxbury High School for a time before switching to an alternative diploma program for working adults, while working a series of retail jobs.
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