1 hour ago
2
Missing Long Island teen Thomas Medlin was caught on surveillance video pacing the Manhattan Bridge — moments before the cameras recorded an ominous splash in the East River, Suffolk County police revealed Wednesday.
Cops stopped short of saying that the 15-year-old boy from St. James — who vanished after leaving school on Jan. 9 — somehow plunged into the icy waters, but noted that the footage does not show the teen leaving the bridge.
“There is no indication of criminal activity,” police said in a press release. “Detectives have continuously communicated the department’s findings to Medlin’s family. The department is continuing to work with its law enforcement partners to bring closure.”
The chilling new details offer the first hints of Medlin’s fate since he went missing after leaving Stony Brook School, a ritzy prep school that can cost more than $70,000 for students who live on campus.
Investigators initially believed Medlin ventured into the city to meet someone he met through the online gaming platform Roblox, although sources said that scenario has not been confirmed.
Police said the teen walked off his school campus around 3:30 p.m. on the day of his disappearance and hopped on a Long Island Rail Road train to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, where he was first spotted on security cameras.
According to the Suffolk County Police Department, cameras then captured the teen on the pedestrian walkway on the Manhattan Bridge at 7:06 p.m. — with his last mobile phone activity recorded at 7:09 p.m.
“A nearby surveillance camera captured a splash in the water” just a minute later, at 7:10 p.m.,” police said.
“Medlin was never seen leaving the bridge via path exits.”
Law enforcement sources said investigators had been pinging the boy’s phone but lost contact at that time.
The teen’s mom, Eva Yan, pleaded on Fox & Friends Tuesday for her son to come home, promising, “he’s safe. Nobody’s going to harm him.”
Meanwhile, Roblox told The Post over that weekend that it was cooperating fully with the investigation.
“We are deeply troubled by this incident and are working with law enforcement to support their investigation,” a company spokesperson said in the statement.
.
English (US)