Human remains found at abandoned Philadelphia school confirmed be missing woman Kada Scott

Authorities confirmed that the human remains found at an abandoned middle school over the weekend belong to Kada Scott, the 23-year-old Philadelphia woman who has been missing since early this month.

Police announced that they found a woman’s remains on Saturday following a detailed tip in their investigation into Scott’s disappearance. Officials confirmed Scott’s death in a press conference on Monday, announcing that new evidence was also discovered that will lead to new charges against the suspect in her disappearance.

Officials read a statement from her parents thanking the public for their support. They also asked for privacy as they process the “heartbreaking events of the past few weeks.”

“Your compassion, love and strength have carried us when we cannot carry ourselves. Kada was deeply, deeply loved,” the statement said. “Her light, kindness and beautiful spirit will forever remain in our hearts.”

The family asked that the public “honor Kada’s memory by showing kindness and care to one another, just as she did every day of her life, with love, strength, and gratitude.”

She doesn’t return home

Scott graduated from Penn State University in 2023 with a degree in communications and had been living with her mother, her father, Kevin Scott, previously told NBC’s “Dateline.”

The night of Oct. 4, her father said she had been to dinner with friends and returned home to borrow her mother’s car before going to work at an assisted living facility called The Terrace at Chestnut Hill. Her shift was from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next morning, he said.

Her mother called her father the next morning, asking if he had heard from Scott. They tried to call their daughter, to no avail.

“She always has her phone with her — normally always charged,” he said. “To have the phone totally off, go straight to voicemail, and no texts responding — that’s definitely strange behavior for Kada.”

Scott’s mother called her work and learned that she had left early, and no one had seen her since about 10:30 p.m., her father said. The family filed a missing person report.

The car that Scott drove to work was found by police in the employee parking lot, but without Scott’s personal belongings, her father said.

Police later said they received a tip about evidence found outside of Ada H. Lewis Middle School, an abandoned school. Investigators found what were believed to be Scott’s personal belongings, including a card with her name on it and an iPhone case.

Another tip an official described as “very specific” led police to search the wooded area around the school. That was where a woman’s remains were found.

Suspect has prior kidnapping allegations

Family and friends had alerted police that unknown individuals had allegedly been harassing her on the phone in the days prior to her disappearance.

An analysis of her cellphone data led police to a 21-year-old man named Keon King, who authorities said was in communication with Scott. Police did not provide details as to what kind of communications King and Scott shared.

Frank Vanore, a deputy commissioner with the Philadelphia Police Department, said King appeared to meet Scott at her place of work and that Scott disappeared shortly after that.

Investigators have also found a 1999 gold Toyota Camry that they believe to be connected with King, and it is going through forensic processing, police said.

King turned himself in and has since been charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment, stalking, criminal use of communication facility, recklessly endangering another person and tampering with evidence. He has not yet entered a plea on the charges.

An attorney for King was not immediately available for a request for comment Monday afternoon.

Another kidnapping case King was allegedly involved with earlier this year has been reopened as a result of the Scott case, according to Assistant District Attorney Ashley Toczylowski. King was accused of kidnapping and strangulation, but Toczylowski said the charges were dropped after the victim failed to appear in court.

King allegedly kidnapped a woman, assaulted her and let her out of his car while his 2-year-old child was in the back seat, NBC Philadelphia reported. Investigators identified King as the man in a video posted to TikTok where a man hopped a fence to peer into a North Philadelphia home.

A woman is recording the incident while telling another woman in the home to call police, according to the video.

Toczylowski told NBC Philadelphia that when the victim in the case and the eyewitness stepped out of the home later that day, King allegedly grabbed the victim and put in her the car.

On Monday, Toczylowski announced that she was seeking new charges against King based on new evidence discovered in the course of the investigation.

New video allegedly shows King using a stolen 2008 Hyundai Accent that was found burning in a junkyard. Investigators believe King used this vehicle to move Scott to the abandoned school where her body was found.

Additional charges are expected be filed in relation to the vehicle, including arson causing catastrophe, conspiracy, unauthorized use of an automobile, tampering with evidence, recklessly endangering another person, and receipt of stolen property.

Cell phone records also allegedly place King’s mobile device at all the relevant locations in the case, Toczylowski said.