Removing Activation Lock

I recently purchased an iPad Mini 2 at a local Goodwill, I have tried to contact Goodwill to get hold of the person that donated it, but they do not keep that information - now I have an iPad that is Activation Locked and cannot go any further than that. Is there anyway for Apple to remove it from the iCloud account that it is locked to? Because I have tried to get a hold of the original owner but I cannot find them. So can Apple force a removal - because this was purchased legitimately.