A Philadelphia teen who went missing with his friend back in March was found dead in the Wissahickon Creek weeks after his friend's body was found in the Schuylkill River, police confirmed with NBC10.
A body was discovered in the water across from the SEPTA Loop along the 5000 block of Ridge Avenue on Tuesday, April 16, around 7 a.m. Medics pulled the body out of the water and the victim was pronounced dead at 7:19 a.m. Investigators said the victim appeared to have been in the water for a while and there were no signs of visible trauma on his body.
On Wednesday, April 17, Philadelphia police identified the victim as 18-year-old Quadir Diaz. A balloon release in the teen's honor was held on Wednesday evening.
"I need answers and I need the city to give me answers. And I’m going to demand the answers. It’s not over until I find out exactly what happened to them," Diaz's mother, Taniesha Diaz, told NBC10.
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Diaz – also known as “Quaddy” -- and his friend, 21-year-old Ausar Scott-Thomas, were both reported missing back on March 7, 2024.
On March 14, Philadelphia Police began searching the Schuylkill River off of 5099 Ridge Avenue near Kelly Drive for a report of two bodies found in the water as friends and family searched for Scott-Thomas and Diaz. They were unable to find them at the time, however.
Then, on Sunday, March 31, at 3:38 p.m., Philadelphia police discovered the body of a man in the Schuylkill River off of the 2900 block of Spring Garden Street. The man was pronounced dead by medics that day at 5:10 p.m. A preliminary assessment didn’t indicate any signs of trauma or physical wounds, investigators said.
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Ausar Scott-Thomas' father later identified the man as his son. Philadelphia police also confirmed with NBC10 the body was that of Scott-Thomas. Police said there were no signs of trauma on his body.
"I had to go to the funeral place to see him. It was hard. It was so hard. I had to see the condition of his body and there was nothing wrong with him," William Thomas, Scott-Thomas' father, said.
His parents said he was with his friend Diaz and a third friend who they do not know when he went missing. The car the three were in reportedly broke down along Lincoln Drive around 2 a.m. on March 7.
Police have not released any information on the third friend who was with Diaz and Scott-Thomas when they went missing.
"It's hard to believe he just drowned. It doesn’t make sense. I want to believe that for closure. But it doesn’t make sense," Okema Beauford, Scott-Thomas' mother, said.
The families of the two missing men searched for days and first responders also searched in the Wissahickon Creek near where the two men were reportedly last seen.
As the investigation continues, Scott-Thomas' parents are trying to make sense of the tragedy. They told NBC10 their son was a 2017 graduate of Neumann Goretti. At the time of his death, he was enrolled in Thaddeus Stevens College where he was studying engineering.
"Just full of energy," Beauford said. "Bouncing everywhere. Goofy. He liked to have fun. Loved family. Loved being around family."
