Twelve-year-old Amber Harris was murdered. Police confirmed Friday that human remains found in Hummel Park on May 11 are Amber's. Authorities say they're now looking for her killer.

Amber's mother, Melissa Harris, tells Channel 6 News that police confirmed the identity to the family Friday afternoon. Police met with them around 4:30.

Amber was last seen getting off a school bus near her home in November. A security camera recorded her leaving the bus and then she vanished.

Police have kept the Harris family updated on the progress of their investigation since the discovery of the remains but there was no positive ID until Friday.

Omaha Police Chief Thomas Warren said at a news conference shortly after 5 p.m. that the remains were found in a shallow grave in Hummel Park. The identity was confirmed through DNA analysis and the chief says the case is being investigated as a homicide.

Chief Warren says it is still not clear how Amber died or how long her body had been in the park. He says the focus of this case will now turn toward identifying the person responsible for the murder.

"The focus of our efforts now return to identifying individuals who are responsible for committing this crime, and we're hopeful that we'll be able to clear this case," the chief said.

The chief says one of the key pieces of evidence that surfaced in the course of this investigation was the discovery of a book bag belonging to Amber Harris. It had been tossed into a garbage can at 21 and Lake and was discovered in February. The chief says the contents of that bag are still being processed.

After six months of wondering and holding out hope about the fate of Amber Harris, the stark answer came Friday afternoon. It was not an answer that came as a surprise but that didn't make it any easier to understand.

Family and friends did what had become routine. They offered hope at the home of Amber's family. But on this day, six months of emotions surfaced.

A mother and father who carried a strong public face for so long, understandably, let Lavon Stennis speak for them Friday.

Stennis said, "They held out faith that Amber would be found alive. They were disappointed and hurt and they are grieving right now."

Chief Warren also clung to optimism until the end.

"It was our hope that she would be found alive," he said.

Police still have a lot of work to do on this case but the focus now turns to the search for a killer.

Clothing and other evidence are being examined from Hummel Park but that book bag is seen as the key piece of evidence.

Investigators are still trying to figure out who placed the bag on top of an oil drum used for garbage just a couple blocks from the Harris home.