UNION COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – A Union County family is searching for answers after their loved one’s remains were found in a field.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office said Jessica Ashmore was reported missing in May 2019 and her remains were found that December. They said when her remains were found, it looked like she had been there for several months.

“I wake up every day and I’m looking for her to come through the door,” said Angel Ashmore.

Ashmore’s death is being investigated as suspicious, according to the sheriff’s office. Her remains were found in a field off Jeffries Farm Road.

“First of all, my thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Jessica Ashmore and all the other unsolved cases we have,” said Sheriff Jeff Bailey.

Bailey said they work on unsolved cases on a weekly or monthly basis.

“Just as you get new leads coming in, if you’ve exhausted all your leads, then you have to wait until you get something else before you can pursue it,” he said.

In addition to holding out hope for more information, Jessica’s mother, Angel Ashmore, said her daughter’s remains have not been returned to her.

“There’s no closure at all when you can’t get the remains to put them at rest,” said Ashmore. “It’s hard, you know, you have bad dreams, the days are long, I don’t sleep at night anymore.”

Bailey said through a court order, Ashmore’s remains are being kept as evidence.

“You want to have the remains, so if you have a murder weapon or some other type of evidence that comes up in the future, you can go back and look,” he said.

Angel Ashmore said she wants more communication from the Sheriff’s Office.

“There’s nothing between the sheriff’s department and us. I don’t know if they just don’t know anything, and that’s fine, if you don’t know anything just voice that,” she said.

“Over the years, we’ve talked to them. Like I said, as we get information in, we follow those leads, and anything that we can tell the family, we do,” said Bailey.

It’s been almost five years since Ashmore has heard her daughter’s voice.

“Her son passed away on August 1st, last year, and I promised him no matter what, I would make sure she was brought home,” said the victim’s mother.

The Sheriff said they are working as hard as they can to get justice for Jessica.

“My prayers go out to the families; I want to be able to solve these cases so they can have some type of closure. We just have to be patient sometimes, you can watch TV and crime shows and they will solve it in an hour, it’s not like that,” he said.

Bailey said they will release her remains when the case is solved or if a circuit court judge says they can.

Bailey also said there is information they cannot discuss with the families, or anyone because it could jeopardize the investigation.