Police discovered human remains at an abandoned school while searching for Kada Scott, the 23-year-old Philadelphia woman who has been missing since she failed to come home from an overnight shift two weeks ago.
Investigators found the remains in a shallow grave on Saturday in the same area where Scott’s personal belongings were found days earlier, according to John Stanford, deputy commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department. Police said a tip came in to investigators directing them to search the wooded area around Ada H. Lewis Middle School.
That’s where the woman’s remains were found, Stanford said. The remains have been sent to the medical examiner’s office to determine the identity, Stanford said.
“We are not going to confirm at this point that it is Ms. Kada Scott, because that has to be done by the medical examiner’s office,” Stanford said Saturday. “But we have been in communication with her family as to this process and the fact that we have recovered a human being. And so at this point, it’s still a lot of work to be done.”
Scott was reported missing by her mother on Oct. 5 after the 23-year-old failed to return home from an overnight shift at an assisted living facility where she worked. She was scheduled from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., her father, Kevin, told NBC’s “Dateline.”
He said that Scott’s mother reached out to him, and when they realized neither had heard from their daughter, they tried to call her. Their calls were sent straight to voicemail.
That was unlike their daughter, he said.
Scott’s mother then called the assisted living facility, The Terrace at Chestnut Hill, which said their daughter left her shift early, at around 10:30 p.m. the night before. Police found Scott’s mother’s car, which she drove to work, in the employee parking lot without her personal belongings.
“She had an iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch in her bag, but they were not inside the vehicle,” her father said. “Whatever happened, she took her belongings with her.”
Police found a card with Scott’s name and other items believed to be hers, including an iPhone case, at Ada H. Lewis Middle School on Wednesday. Investigators returned to search the grounds of the abandoned school, where the shallow grave was found.
A suspect has been identified in the case. Keon King, 21, turned himself in on Tuesday, police said.
Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said last week that evidence showed it was “pretty clear” Scott had been in communication with King.
“That individual appears to meet her shortly after she leaves her place of work, and shortly after that, she disappears off the footprint,” Vanore said.
Police also found a 1999 metallic gold Toyota Camry that they previously said they believed to be connected with King but did not provide additional details. The car is being transported for “comprehensive forensic processing,” police said.
King was also investigated earlier this year in the alleged kidnapping and strangulation of another individual, according to Assistant District Attorney Ashley Toczylowski. But the charges were dropped after the victim failed to appear in court.
That case has been reopened, Toczylowski said last week.
Court records show that King has been charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment, stalking, criminal use of communication facility, recklessly endangering another person, and tampering with evidence. He has not entered a plea for the charges.
King is being held in jail on $2.5 million bail, records show.
An attorney representing King did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News on Sunday.
Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson is “heartbroken and deeply disturbed” by the news of remains being found in the search for Scott. He said in a statement posted to Instagram on Saturday night that the city must commit itself to protecting women and demanding accountability.
“My deepest condolences go out to Kada’s family, friends, and loved ones during this unimaginably painful time,” Johnson said. “Ms. Scott was a young woman with her whole life ahead of her — a Penn State graduate who had just begun her career in caregiving.”
