Shane Montgomery's keys found at river's edge

A GRIM CLUE in the disappearance of Shane Montgomery - missing since early Thanksgiving morning - surfaced yesterday along the banks of the Schuylkill, nearly a month after the college student and Roxborough native vanished.

Members of the Garden State Underwater Recovery Unit - contacted by Montgomery's family - donned scuba and snorkeling gear and searched the river Friday and yesterday, Montgomery's mother, Karen, said. During their search yesterday, they found the young man's keys near the water's edge, not far from a foot bridge that Montgomery, 21, was seen crossing in video recovered Dec. 11 from a nail salon on Main Street in Manayunk near the pub Montgomery was seen leaving.

"The last place that Shane's on video is on the bridge right behind the nail salon," Karen Montgomery said. "They found his keys toward the river to the left.

"My heart is broken. My son is somewhere in that river, and I need to find him and I need to bring him home," she told the Daily News.

"I don't think you can print a mother's broken heart."

Montgomery was last seen leaving Kildare's Irish Pub, on Main Street near Conarroe, about 1:50 a.m. Nov. 27. He had gone to the bar - where a relative of his worked - from his home in Roxborough the night before Thanksgiving to meet friends.

Clues in his disappearance - which sparked dozens of search parties and an outpouring of support, from tight-knit Roxborough to college-town West Chester - have been scant. An FBI task force joined Philadelphia Police in the search for the 2011 Roman Catholic High School graduate days after he disappeared.

Montgomery's mother last night said she is thankful for the prayers and support that have bolstered the devastated family since her son went missing. She vowed to continue the tireless search until he is found.

"I appreciate everybody's prayers and thoughts, and want people to know that we aren't going to stop looking until we find Shane," Karen Montgomery said. "That's what we need, is prayers and thoughts, and we need to find him and bring him home."

The reward for information in his disappearance, which ballooned within the first few weeks of the search, stands at $65,000. Karen Montgomery said that nobody has come forward with information so far.