Dozens join search for Wissinoming teen missing in Pennypack Creek

FAMILY AND FRIENDS of a 15-year-old Wissinoming boy who went missing in Pennypack Creek on Tuesday continued their search yesterday, while his parents urged city officials to do more to prevent similar tragedies.

Police said Sebastien Sanon was with three friends by the creek near Frankford Avenue and Ashburner Street shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday when he fell in and disappeared.

Dozens joined the search yesterday near the fast-moving waters. Despite his disappearance more than 24 hours ago, some still hoped for the best, calling his name as they searched.

Loved ones described Sanon as a bright, caring and funny young man who is well-liked by peers and adults.

"He was always so positive. If you were ever down, he'd always try to pick you up," said friend Kaby Valencia. "You wanted to be around him."

Friend Niya Carr said Sanon would often pay for things voluntarily, recalling a time he treated her and another friend to a meal at a fast-food restaurant.

"He was caring for others," she said. "You didn't have to ask. He'd just do it."

Sanon's mother, Adeline Ambroise, said she last saw her son playing basketball a few blocks from the house about an hour before police said he was swept into the creek.

She said Sanon's a good swimmer, but she never knew of him going to the creek.

"I don't know whose idea it was going over there. I never knew my son goes all the way over there," she said from her home on Devereaux Street near Harbison Avenue, where she was being consoled by family, neighbors and church members.

Ambroise said her son loves riding his bike, playing soccer and video games. He dreamed of being an astronaut, and had even looked into colleges for aeronautics for after he graduated from his cyber-charter school.

"He loved his school," she said. "The teachers send me emails saying what a nice gentleman, even though they [never] met him but they talked to him over the phone. They said he was so kind."

The presumed tragedy comes a little more than a month after Brandon Boyle, 13, drowned in Pennypack Creek near a waterfall by Roosevelt Boulevard near Winchester Avenue. Three weeks ago, two 18-year-old men drowned in Neshaminy Creek in Bucks County.

Ambroise said she was unaware of Pennypack's tragic history until being informed by friends and family members. She cried out for signs spelling out the danger to those who might enter the creek.

"How many people have to die before they do it?" she questioned.

"Philadelphia is not doing their freakin' job," stepfather Jean Cadet said. "They should put a wire, a fence down there, saying this is dangerous."

City officials have defended their actions in the past, claiming that posted signs are repeatedly torn down.

The warnings often fall on deaf ears anyway. If Sanon is not found safe, he would be at least the 17th person to drown in the city's creeks in the past 20 years.