Human remains were found near the grounds of the abandoned Ada H. H. Lewis Middle School in Philadelphia’s East Germantown neighborhood, where the police have been searching for 23-year-old Kada Scott, police said.
Saturday marked two weeks since Scott was last seen.
First Deputy Commissioner John Stanford said during a press conference on Saturday that they received an anonymous tip from the public, which led them to a wooded area behind the school, where they located a shallow grave and confirmed the remains were of a female.
“Based on a tip that came in late last night, investigators began the process of following up on that tip this morning. And that tip was very specific, that led us back to this location here today,” Stanford said. “Don’t know who the tip is from, but grateful that the individual submitted the tip.”
He mentioned that the remains appeared to be of someone who had been deceased for some days now. While they believe the human remains are a woman, police can’t confirm that the remains are Scott’s. They said the confirmation has to be done by the medical examiner’s office.
“No one is happy that this is the ending. Completely understand that this is a lot on our investigators, a lot on all of us. We all have family members, and this could have been any one of our family members. Could be anybody’s family member,” said Stanford.
Police said they shut down the academy to bring in 300 recruits to assist in the search, and had New Jersey State Police dogs also help in the search process.
“I know sometimes it seems like information is not coming fast enough, but we have a job to Ms. Scott, we have a job to her family – again, if this is confirmed that this is her –” Stanford said, “to ensure that we are doing everything in the proper way to make sure that the individuals are held accountable. So we don’t want to do anything to compromise that.”
Philadelphia police are still urging the public to keep sending tips.
“I still will urge the public that if you have any information, anything that you think is related to this, continue to give us that information via (215) 686-TIPS (8477),” said Stanford. “Still continue to give us that information because again we don’t know if there are other individuals that have been a victim of this individual that we have in custody.”
With the discovery of the remains, Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Ashley Toczylowski was asked about a potential follow-up with Keon King, the man charged in connection with Scott’s disappearance.
“It means that we do our job, it means that we take in everything that we know, we take in everything that we found out today. We’ll make the determination of whether we add additional charges,” said Toczylowski.
King remains in police custody. Police said he was the last person in contact with Scott before she disappeared. He’s been charged with kidnapping and other offenses.
“We want the people, the person that we have in custody, and anybody else that may be involved in this, we want them held accountable,” said Stanford.” To the highest degree of the law for what they have done.”
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker released an emotional statement about the discovery of the human remains.
In a social post, Parker wrote, “I am a Praying Mayor who wholeheartedly believes in the power of God’s strength. I Pray that God will give the family a certain peace that passes all understanding to meet this moment.”
