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Two weeks on, video of missing Roxborough college student surfaces

The search for Shane Montgomery continues as investigators find a clue, a video of the man near the Manayunk Canal.

Shane Montgomery from a missing poster in Manayunk. (David Swanson / Staff Photographer)
Shane Montgomery from a missing poster in Manayunk. (David Swanson / Staff Photographer)Read more

ABOUT TWO WEEKS after college student Shane Montgomery seemingly disappeared into thin air after leaving a Manayunk pub early Thanksgiving morning, police yesterday renewed their search of the Schuylkill's waters based on new information gleaned in the case.

Since Montgomery, 21, a Roxborough native, was last seen leaving Kildare's on Main Street near Conarroe about 1:50 a.m. Nov. 27, the case has stumped investigators, one of whom, several days after his disappearance, told the Daily News they were "desperate for clues."

Yesterday, a police source confirmed, investigators recovered video from a business near the Manayunk Canal - adjacent to Kildare's - that shows a young man believed to be Montgomery walking near the canal.

A police spokeswoman confirmed that Marine Unit officers again searched the Schuylkill in the area where the West Chester University student and graduate of Roman Catholic High School disappeared. Still, no additional clues as to Montgomery's whereabouts surfaced. Early last week, they searched the canal to no avail.

On Tuesday, Montgomery's family announced via the "Help find Shane Montgomery" Facebook page that the reward for information leading to him is now $65,000. The page has garnered more than 33,500 "likes" since his disappearance.

On Dec. 1, the FBI joined in the investigation. Law-enforcement sources have said that the same task force that investigated last month's kidnapping of Carlesha Freeland-Gaither and located the young woman in Maryland is working on the Montgomery case. They have not ruled his disappearance suspicious.

In an outpouring of support, people from the tight-knit Roxborough community where Montgomery and his family live have organized numerous search efforts and events around the missing man. Last week, people began wearing green ribbons and hanging them - in addition to fliers with Montgomery's photo - around the Northwest Philadelphia neighborhoods where he lived and vanished.

"Green is the color for lost children as well as hope. It also happens to be Shane's favorite color," a post on the Facebook page reads.

Montgomery has green eyes and light-brown hair. He is 5 feet 11, about 140 pounds and was last seen wearing a gray sweatshirt over a gray button-down shirt and jeans. He has a Celtic cross tattoo on his shoulder blade.

Montgomery's family and friends have vowed to keep searching until he is found.

"We are just hoping to keep this alive. We don't want this to become back-page news, quite frankly, and we need all the help and support we can to keep Shane's name alive so that people know we are still looking for him and we will not stop looking for him," Montgomery's aunt, Marianne Wittman, told the Daily News last week.

"We are going to continue to be prayerful and to lean on each other and continue to look for him."

Blog: PhillyConfidential.com