Search for teen ends in sorrow

EBONY NICOLE DORSEY is supposed to turn 15 next week.

Now, family and friends of the Wissahickon High School freshman fear they may be burying her instead.

"This is the worst feeling in the world," Evan Dorsey, Ebony's dad, said in a TV interview last night.

Ebony was last seen with her mother's boyfriend, Marc O'Donnell, Thursday night when he took her from her home to his apartment in Plymouth Meeting to baby-sit his daughter, Whitpain Township Police said.

Yesterday afternoon, police received information that led them outside a residence on Union Meeting Road in Whitpain Township, where they found the body of a young female, believed to be Ebony.

"The clothing found on the body was consistent with what Ebony was wearing when she was last seen," said Montgomery County First Assistant District Attorney Risa Ferman.

Ferman said last night that an autopsy was to be completed and the results would be revealed today.

She said authorities want to question O'Donnell because they believe he was the last person to see Ebony alive. But, so far, they've been unable to locate him.

"It seems he fled the area," Ferman said. Police said O'Donnell drives a gold Toyota Camry.

Asked about O'Donnell in the TV interview, Evan Dorsey said, "What I knew of him, I did not like." He also said he had warned Ebony about O'Donnell.

Within an hour of reports that police found a body believed to be Ebony's, a group called Remember Ebony Dorsey was formed on Facebook.com, the popular social networking site, and classmates of Ebony's shared their shock and sadness at the recent news.

"Ebony was the sweetest girl and I can't recall anyone ever talking bad about her," said Cari Berkowitz, a student at Wissahickon High School who knew Ebony in middle school.

"She was a friend to everyone and never did anything to hurt anyone," Berkowitz added.

Friends posted comments recalling Ebony's intelligence, her smile, and the energy she brought to her time at Wissahickon High School.

Emily Weber, a freshman at Wissahickon High School, said, "It is all very upsetting that someone my age that I knew and saw every day is now suspected to be gone."

Emily Smith, another classmate, said Ebony was always friendly to everyone she met.

"She was always full of positive energy and incredible intelligence," Smith said. "I'm praying for strength for her family and everyone who is affected by this tragic event. I know it affected me deeply."

Last night, family and friends gathered at Ebony's mother's house in Ambler where two family friends spoke about the teen.

"Ebony was an honor roll student and a well-behaved child," said a female friend who declined to give her name.

"Her family is holding up as well as can be expected. Please keep Ebony in your thoughts and prayers." *