Body of Shane Montgomery Found in Schuylkill River

Divers retrieved him early Saturday afternoon.

Sad but not unexpected news from the banks of the Schuylkill River, where divers pulled the body of Shane Montgomery from the water shortly after noon on Saturday, 36 days after the 21-year-old West Chester University student disappeared.

Montgomery left Kildare’s Irish Pub in Manayunk on Thanksgiving Eve around 1:45 a.m. Surveillance video later showed him walking toward the Manayunk canal, and federal investigators focused their efforts on the Schuylkill. His keys were found in the river three weeks after his disappearance, seeming to confirm everyone’s worst fears.

Authorities have yet to officially announce that the body recovered is Montgomery’s, pending identification by the Medical Examiner’s office on Monday, but his parents made a tearful statement in the cold rain in Manayunk on Saturday.

“Today we have done what we promised: We found and brought Shane home,” said his mother, reading a statement also posted to the Help Find Shane Montgomery Facebook page. “We want to thank the Garden State Underwater Recovery Unit, Philadelphia Marine Unit, Northwest Detectives, the Philadelphia Police Department, Saint John the Baptist, Mike Rose and the Brew Pub and their employees. We want to thank everyone for their support, prayers, and love and ask that they continue to pray for our family at this trying time. At this time we ask that you please respect our privacy. We need time to mourn together as a family.”

The Garden State Underwater Recovery Unit posted the following message on Facebook later in the day:

At approximately 12 pm this afternoon, our dive team recovered the body of West Chester University student Shane Montgomery from the Schuylkill River. We are so very sorry to see a young man lose his life at such a young age, but feel a bit more at peace knowing that Shane’s family can now properly memorialize him.

Giving families like the Montgomery’s closure is one of the many reasons why the Garden State Underwater Recovery Unit exists. Our thoughts and prayers are with Shane’s family and friends.

Funeral arrangements had not been announced as of Saturday evening.