The body of a 19-year-old college student who mysteriously disappeared on Halloween just minutes from his home has been found dead.
Owen Tillman Kenney’s lifeless body was discovered in the water on Saturday near Patriots Point, South Carolina, according to the police.
After a tireless seven-day search, investigators uncovered video evidence that showed the teen died by suicide.
‘I would like to thank everyone who took part in the effort to get Owen back to his family,’ Charleston Police Chief Chito Walker said in a press release.
‘We hope this recovery brings some measure of closure to a family experiencing unimaginable loss.’
Kenney, originally from Tinton New Jersey, was a student at the College of Charleston.
He was last seen walking on Bull Street, Charleston, according to his devastated family’s Facebook post.
They added the teen was just minutes from his house but he ‘never made it home that night’.
Kenney pictured on a boat in the summertime, the college student was originally from Tinton New Jersey
Surveillance video shows the teen walking alone on the Ravenel Bridge pedestrian walkway at around 3am
Police said Kenney was captured on video walking alone on the Ravenel Bridge pedestrian walkway at around 3am.
The footage showed the 19-year-old wearing a black hooded jacket, light-colored pants, and black Nike sneakers with white soles as he walked onto the bridge, the release said.
His cell phone’s last recorded location was in the same area, according to the police.
Investigators shifted from search to recovery efforts after discovering video evidence that concluded the teen took his own life at 3.49am on October 31.
Kenney’s body was identified and recovered.
‘There are no words that can ease the pain of losing someone so young and so full of promise,’ College of Charleston President Andrew T. Hsu said in a statement, ABC reported.
‘Now is the time to surround his family with love, to support the friends and classmates who are grieving and to remind each other that no one in our campus family carries this weight alone.’
Owen Tillman Kenney, 19, was a student at at the College of Charleston, died by suicide on October 31
The teen mysteriously disappeared on Halloween just minutes from his home in South Carolina
Kenney’s senior graduation photo, in a social media tribute post the high school said the teen was a ‘beloved part of our school community, and his presence, kindness, and spirit have touched many’
Kenney and his family during the holidays, the teen was an alumni of New Jersey’s Red Bank Catholic High School
Kenney was an alumni of New Jersey’s Red Bank Catholic High School in 2024 before starting at the College of Charleston.
Social media tributes poured in as Kenney’s high school posted a memorial on Instagram.
‘Owen has been a beloved part of our school community, and his presence, kindness, and spirit have touched many,’ they wrote.
Kenney’s brother wrote on the post, ‘My brother was an amazing person. Please keep him in memory that way.’
His GoFundMe page remembers him as a ‘joyful spirit [who] touched everyone who knew him.’