Who was Amina Alhaj-Omar? Ohio State grad student who went missing in June found dead in remote quarry
COLUMBUS, OHIO: Amina Alhaj-Omar, the missing Ohio State University graduate student, who vanished on June 10 has been found dead. Her body was recovered from a remote quarry on Wednesday, July 12. Alhaj-Omar was last seen near Interstate 270 and US Route 23 on June 10, as per NBC4. Upon her disappearance, the police found her car in the area with some minor damage.
The Alhaj-Omar family released a statement on Sunday, July 16. that reads, “On Wednesday afternoon we received a call from the Franklin County detectives when they later came to our home and informed the family that they had found Amina’s body in the quarry behind the BP gas station on S High Street where she was last seen. We are unaware of the details at this time as we have not yet received the autopsy report. We would like to ask the public for their prayers for Amina,” as reported by NBC4.
The Columbus Division of Police too confirmed her death when they said, “Officers found the body of the 25-year-old in a remote area where she was last reportedly seen,” before adding, “The investigation into her disappearance is now closed by the Columbus Division of Police.” Police have not yet given the cause of her death and are waiting for the autopsy reports.
Who was Amina Alhaj-Omar?
As per Alhaj-Omar’s obituary, as given by her family, she was born to her father Hassan Alhaj-Omar and her mother, the late Theresa Alhaj-Omar. While she lost her mother in 2018, she is survived by her four sisters, Miriam, Zenab, Sara and Jana. Her family described her as “Amina was a soft and kind soul that demonstrated the utmost compassion and empathy for any person that crossed her path.”
She obtained her bachelor’s degree from the Ohio State University and majored in Criminology. Later, she started doing a Master’s in social work from the same university. Her passion for helping people in need encouraged her to do an internship with Community Refugee & Immigration Services (CRIS) in the Spring of 2023. Her family wrote, “She worked hard to pursue her admirable dream of fighting for people.”
Alhaj-Omar has been described as a “family-oriented” person, who “would always remind her friends of how important family was to her and that ‘family trumps everything’. No matter how intense or silly a fight, she would always say “that’s my family, I’ll always have their backs no matter what.””
Her family gave an insight into her warm nature and welcoming demeanor, saying, “Most people who truly knew Amina immediately remember her laugh - it was contagious and brought happiness to everyone in the room. She had a way of making people feel comfortable and welcomed in any situation. Her personality was simply beautiful - a bubbly, shy, caring, funny, and loving human being inside and out.”
While the family is still mourning the loss, they also feel blessed as they got to love and cherish her beautiful soul for 25 years, as they obit reads, “We are devastated by our immense loss, but we also thank God every single day for blessing us with the privilege of knowing and loving her beautiful soul for the last twenty-five years. We ask that you take a minute to pray for Amina and her late mother Theresa. At this time, we implore the aid of God to help us persevere this great loss as well as give us the patience and strength to endure this great hardship. We will be looking forward to opportunities arising from this horrible situation for we believe bad things happen for good reasons.”
Amina Alhaj-Omar went missing in June
Alhaj-Omar went missing on June 10. She was last seen near a stone quarry near Interstate 270 and State Route 23. A thorough search for her was started by the police. Four days after her disappearance, police said in a press conference that she was carrying two kitchen knives with her. CCTV footage showed Alhaj-Omar was inside the BP Gas Station in the wee hours of June 10. She loved to swim and her sisters believe she could have gone to the quarry pond, as per The Columbus Dispatch. Her sister, Miriam Alhaj-Omar had previously informed the press that the police found her jacket, shoes, and cellphone near the quarry she disappeared at.