Each, as if by design to keep the captured memories nothing by positive, shows Melody Lebowitz with a giant grin and often flanked by friends and family.

Photos of the 2007 Jamestown High School graduate each have their own backstory. Some are complicated, like the one where she’s posing with a few of the women she befriended while in jail. And others are far more straightforward, like the one where she’s sharing a moment with her brother, Patrick.

Nonetheless, each photo seems to elicit a laugh from Povich.

“You couldn’t have a conversation with her that she wouldn’t say, ‘Have an epic day’ and ‘Have a stellar day,’ you know,” Povich said of her daughter. “Life was good. Everything she posted on Facebook was beautiful, optimistic and wonderful.”

Pictured are Povich and her daughter. The Jamestown woman has dozens, maybe hundreds, of photos of Lebowitz on her phone.

It’s those memories that Povich tries to hang onto now in recounting the nearly three years after Lebowitz was found dead inside her 11 Broadhead Ave. apartment in Jamestown at the age of 29. During that time, she has struggled to understand what happened that day and whether there’s someone out there who should be held accountable.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” Povich said of the day she was notified by Jamestown police that her daughter was dead. “You never think that your child’s going to die.”

Povich was at home and in the process of moving when she got the call. She told the officer she would rush right over but was advised it would be better to stay away from the apartment.

“He said, ‘Don’t come here. She’s been dead a while and it’s nothing you need to see,’ and I said OK,” Povich recalls.

Lebowitz died Saturday, June 30, 2018. The manner, according to the death certificate, notes “homicide,” while under immediate cause, it states: “Remote blunt force trauma of head with complications.”

Pictured are Povich and her daughter. The Jamestown woman has dozens, maybe hundreds, of photos of Lebowitz on her phone.

Povich said police told her early on that her daughter may have had a seizure and that it could have played a role in her death. In fact, Lebowitz’s obituary states she died of natural causes.

But in the years that have since passed, Povich now rebuffs any claims that her daughter died as the result of a fall or other medical emergency. She claims she never personally saw her daughter have a seizure, though she did say Lebowitz suffered medical problems after reportedly being struck in the head with a pipe by another woman while she slept in 2015.

To this day, Povich is convinced her daughter was murdered inside her apartment.

“I wish I could get to the truth because I want her to rest now,” said Povich, noting the death certificate, which she finally obtained from the funeral home after a year of attempts elsewhere proved fruitless. “I will never be the same.”

Povich knows her daughter struggled in life with mental illness in addition to drug and alcohol abuse. She noted several arrests that resulted in stints inside jail.

“She was doing well,” Povich said. “She had her own apartment, and then she started messing with drugs and the wrong people, and I would say that sometimes she wasn’t pleasant to be around. Sometimes, you know, you’d have to think twice before you answered the phone because you never knew what it was going to be.”

Even with her struggles, Povich knows her daughter had a good heart. At the time of her death she volunteered as a mentor with Chautauqua Striders.

Not much is known about the day Lebowitz was discovered. She was found on her apartment floor by herself.

The Jamestown Police Department looked into Lebowitz’s death, though investigators do not believe she was murdered the day she died. Just this week, following renewed efforts to meet with JPD and obtain information, Povich sat down with members of the department and Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt.

Jamestown police could not comment, citing an open investigation, and referred questions to the DA. Schmidt, who took office in January and was unaware of the details until just recently, said he sympathized with Povich.

“I can’t imagine the pain and ongoing struggle that Ms. Povich and others like her experience when a loved one dies unexpectedly and the surrounding circumstances are being investigated by law enforcement. It’s a kind of purgatory, I’m sure,” he told The Post-Journal. “For me, meeting with Ms. Povich highlighted the difficulties shared by all parties — police and family members — arising from the fact that police cannot share details of pending investigations for fear of compromising the cases they are developing, which can sometimes create a false appearance that they are not actively working a case or are uncaring. The reality is far different and I hope we were able to assure Ms. Povich that all of care very much about bringing resolution to her.”

Povich said she is glad the case is being given a fresh look. She noted a tattoo she has on her arm, from a letter her daughter wrote to her, that states: “Missing you night & day. Love you so very much.”