Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
FBI, Philly police look for video of student
WESTCHESTER» The Philadelphia office of the FBI and the Philadelphia police are asking the public’s help to locate additional video of an area in Manayunk near where mis si n g West Chester University student Shane Montgomery was last seen.
According to Public Affairs Supervisory Special Agent J.J. Klaver, the FBI and police and seeking the public’s assistance in identifying additional security cameras in a specific area of Manayunk. The section of interest, said Klaver, is bounded by the Schuylkill River, Green Lane, Henry Avenue and Lincoln Drive for the date of Nov. 27, 2014.
Anyone with a camera in the area with possible footage from Nov. 27 who hasn’t already provided the video to law enforcement is being asked to call the FBI at 215 418 4000. It wasn’t immediately known the reason for the request of video is that area.
Montgomery, a 21-year-old West Chester University senior, disappeared during Thanksgiving’s early morning hours after leaving Kildare’s Irish Pub in Manayunk. Over the last week an intensive search, led by the FBI and the Philadelphia Police Department, has found no sign of Montgomery.
Also, according to a report on Philly.com, the bakery where the missing student’s father works has contributed an additional $9,000 to a reward for information on Shane Montgomery’s disappearance.
The Philly.com report said that Bimbo Bakeries USA said Shane Montgomery’s father, Kevin, has been an associate there for nearly 35 years and that their contribution to the reward has increased its total to $40,000.
Wednesday night hundreds of friends and classmates joined
Montgomery’s family outside the Sykes Student Union at West Chester University for a candlelit vigil marked by an enduring hope that good news may still be on the way.
The steps in front of Sykes were filled to capacity and the crowd stretched along the sidewalk on Rosedale Avenue. As Montgomery’s family and friends spoke to the crowd, they urged everyone to spread his picture and story in hope that the message may reach someone who knows something about what happened to him that night.
His family also thanked the gathering for its continued support while the search for their son presses on
The amount of love and support here just goes to show what type of person Shane is,” said his father, Kevin Montgomery. “We miss him, we love him, and we will get him home.”
Hundreds of volunteers, led by Montgomery’s family and friends, have launched a massive effort to canvass the region to find someone who may have seen him or may know what happened. Flyers were posted at the area’s college campuses, bus terminals, homeless shelters, and the Philadelphia International Airport.
“Somebody must know something,” Montgomery’s mother Karen said.
Many of those who attended the vigil were Shane’s friends from his offcampus social life, but others were younger students who had never met him. Some said the sense of community between students, amplified by other recent events on and near campus, drew them to the vigil.
“I’m just here to pray,” said Kate Skinner, a sophomore. “I think that at a time like this, everyone is a friend of Shane.”
A reward for reliable information about the student’s whereabouts rose on Wednesday as well, helped in part by a donation from the university’s Student Government Association (SGA).
“The Student Government Association of West Chester University is supporting all efforts to find our fellow classmate Shane Montgomery. SGA is donating a sum of money towards the reward that was put forward for any important information that may lead to find him. He is a fellow Golden Ram here at WCU and we will do everything in our power to assist in finding him” said student government president John C. Caro.
Kildare’s Restaurants, owned by the West Chester-based Dave Magrogan Group, also contributed $10,000 to the reward.
Montgomery was asked to leave the bar around 1:45 a.m. last Thursday after he reportedly bumped into the DJ’s equipment, his family has said. Kildare’s said there was no indication that any altercations took place outside of the bar after Montgomery left.
On Sunday morning, as the search entered its fourth day, the FBI’s missing persons task force joined the investigation. FBI spokespersons said the task force involves itself in missing persons cases when the subject disappears under suspicious circumstances.
Federal agents and the city’s police force used helicopters armed with infrared cameras and specialized marine units to search for any sign of Montgomery. On Sunday an intensive search of the Manayunk Canal, not far from where Montgomery was last seen, turned up no sign of the missing student.
“They have found nothing,” Karen Montgomery said earlier this week.
Montgomery stands 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs about 130 pounds, has short brown hair, green eyes and a Celtic cross tattoo on one shoulder. Anyone with information is asked to call the Philadelphia Police Department’s Northwest Detectives at 215-686-3353 or the FBI at 215-418-4000.