Philadelphia police have confirmed through DNA testing that human remains discovered in a shallow grave behind a shuttered middle school in East Germantown belong to 23-year-old Kada Scott, the aspiring beauty queen and former Penn State cheerleader who vanished two weeks ago amid a kidnapping probe.

The gruesome find, unearthed on October 18 in a densely wooded area adjacent to the vacant Ada H. Lewis Middle School on the 6100 block of Ardleigh Street, marked a tragic end to an exhaustive search that mobilized community volunteers, cadaver dogs, and tips from the public. Deputy Police Commissioner John Stanford described the remains as appearing “around a week old or less,” aligning closely with Scott’s disappearance on the night of October 4. The location—near the Awbury Arboretum, one of the last spots where Scott’s phone pinged before going dark—had been scoured multiple times by investigators, but a late Friday anonymous tip prompted a renewed dig that yielded the shallow burial site.

Scott, a vibrant 2024 Penn State graduate and 2023 Miss Philadelphia Township titleholder, was last seen leaving her job at a Center City restaurant around 10 p.m. on the fateful Saturday. Surveillance footage captured her entering a gold 1999 Toyota Camry belonging to Keon King, a 29-year-old Germantown resident whom police swiftly identified as a person of interest. King, who had a prior acquaintance with Scott, was arrested on October 15 and charged with kidnapping her, as well as the earlier abduction of another Philadelphia woman in February 2025. Authorities allege King held Scott against her will after picking her up, but the exact circumstances of her death remain under investigation, with homicide charges potentially forthcoming pending autopsy results.

The discovery unfolded around 10 a.m. on Saturday when officers, acting on the tip, deployed ground-penetrating radar and excavation teams to the overgrown lot behind the long-closed school—a site notorious for urban decay and occasional illicit activity since its shuttering in 2013 due to budget cuts. First responders encountered the remains in a makeshift grave covered by leaves and debris, prompting an immediate lockdown of the perimeter and the evacuation of nearby residents for safety. “This was a very specific lead that brought us back here,” Stanford told reporters at a somber press conference later that day, flanked by grief counselors. The Medical Examiner’s Office transported the body to the Frankford facility for forensic analysis, where preliminary exams ruled out immediate signs of trauma but confirmed the female victim matched Scott’s description in age and build.

By Sunday evening, DNA confirmation from Scott’s family sealed the heartbreaking identification, sources confirmed to CBS News Philadelphia. The news rippled through Germantown’s tight-knit community, where Scott was remembered as a “ray of sunshine” who volunteered at local pageants and cheered for the Nittany Lions with infectious energy. Her family, who had plastered flyers across Northwest Philly and held vigils at the arboretum, issued a brief statement through police channels: “Our hearts are shattered, but Kada’s light will never fade. We seek justice and peace.” Friends organized a candlelight memorial outside the school Monday night, with attendees clutching photos of Scott in her crown and cheer uniform, chanting “Justice for Kada” under the glow of cellphones.

King, currently held without bail at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, has a checkered history that raised red flags early in the investigation. Court records show prior arrests for assault and drug possession, and he was on probation for a 2023 domestic violence conviction. Detectives believe he targeted Scott after a chance encounter at a Germantown bar earlier that summer, using the pretext of a ride home to lure her into his vehicle. Phone records and witness statements placed the Camry near the school around 1 a.m. on October 5, hours after Scott’s shift ended. King’s silence during interrogations has frustrated investigators, but prosecutors hint at mounting evidence from his phone’s geolocation data and fibers traced to the burial site.

This isn’t Germantown’s first brush with tragedy at abandoned educational sites. The Ada H. Lewis Middle School, a relic of the School District of Philadelphia’s 2013 closures that axed 23 buildings amid a $300 million deficit, has become a symbol of urban blight. Squatters, graffiti artists, and worse have claimed the property, leading to multiple police sweeps and a 2022 lawsuit from neighbors over safety hazards. Similar venues have hosted grim discoveries before: In 2019, a homeless man’s body was found in the basement of a shuttered Northeast High, and just last year, fentanyl-laced needles littered the grounds of another closed facility in Kensington. Community advocates like Germantown Avenue Revitalization CEO Ameen Akbar decried the pattern: “These ghost schools are magnets for misery. Until we repurpose them, more stories like Kada’s will haunt us.”

Scott’s case echoes a spike in missing persons reports in Philadelphia, where over 300 women vanished without trace in 2024 alone, per city data. Her profile—young, Black, and upwardly mobile—fits a demographic disproportionately affected, with advocates pointing to systemic gaps in media coverage and rapid response. The Philly NAACP chapter rallied outside City Hall Tuesday, demanding a task force for abductions in high-risk areas like Germantown, where poverty rates hover at 28%. “Kada wasn’t just a statistic; she was a dreamer,” said chapter president Amin Kwadwo. Online, #JusticeForKada trended with 75,000 posts on X by midday, blending tributes—”She lit up every room like her crown”—with outrage: “Another Black woman gone, and the system’s shrug? Unacceptable.”

As the investigation presses on, forensic teams comb the woods for additional evidence, including Scott’s missing phone and personal items. King’s arraignment is set for October 23, where DA Larry Krasner’s office vows a “no-holds-barred” prosecution. Toxicology reports, expected mid-week, could reveal if foul play involved substances, while cadaver searches in nearby lots continue on slim leads. For Scott’s loved ones, closure comes laced with agony—her mother, a single parent who raised her amid Germantown’s grit, plans a homegoing service at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, where Kada once sang in the youth choir.

The shuttered school’s chain-link fence now bears bouquets and teddy bears, a makeshift shrine amid the weeds. In a neighborhood scarred by loss but resilient in spirit, Kada Scott’s story serves as a gut-wrenching call to action: for safer streets, vigilant policing, and the demolition—or rebirth—of forgotten corners like Ada H. Lewis. As one mourner scrawled on a poster: “Rest in crowns, queen. We’ll fight on.” The probe marches forward, but for Philly, this grave marks not an end, but a fierce demand for reckoning.