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The Charleston Police Department has located the body of Owen Kenney, a college student who went missing on Halloween night.
Authorities revealed that the 19-year-old was found near Patriots Point at approximately 8:45 a.m. on November 8. This discovery initiated a coordinated recovery operation involving the Charleston Police Harbor Patrol units, Mount Pleasant Police Department, Charleston County Rescue, and the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials determined that Kenney, a student at the College of Charleston, passed away due to suicide.
“I want to express my gratitude to everyone involved in bringing Owen back to his loved ones,” remarked Charleston Police Chief Chito Walker in a statement released on November 8. “We hope this recovery provides some closure to a family enduring an unimaginable loss.”
Missing College Student Owen Kenney Is Reported Missing
The Charleston Police previously reported that Kenney was last observed by friends around 2 a.m. on October 31, near the corner of King Street and Burns Lane.
As the investigation continued, his last known whereabouts were updated to the Ravenel Bridge pedestrian walkway, where police said he was walking alone around 3 a.m. that morning. He was wearing a black hooded jacket, light-colored pants and black Nike sneakers with white soles.
According to police, his phone’s last recorded location was also on the bridge around the same time.
Authorities launched an exhaustive search to try to find the missing college student from New Jersey, utilizing K-9 units, the Harbor Patrol, a Underwater Recovery Team and Unmanned Aerial System Team during the days-long search effort.
His body was recovered Nov. 8 after authorities received a report of a body in the water near Patriots Point, authorities said.
Police concluded that Kenney took his life around 3:49 a.m. on Oct. 31.
“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 Nov. 8, according to ABC News. “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.”
Police have asked for privacy for the Kenney family as they navigate their loss.