Shane Montgomery Search Update: Is Missing Student Victim Of Foul Play?

The FBI is involved in the search for Shane Montgomery, a 21-year-old West Chester University student who vanished on Wednesday night. It’s going on a week since he last heard from or seen by his loved ones, which has made the Thanksgiving season a somber one. Sky News has pointed out that the FBI ordinarily tends to get involved when disappearances are under suspicious circumstances. So does this mean that something may have happened to the missing young man by someone else’s doing?

Searches for Shane have focused both on land and water, with the latest search taking place at the Manayunk Canal. His parents were present for the search but have expressed relief that he was not found in the water. Nonetheless, this doesn’t change the fear that someone may have preyed on the student, who was last seen at a bar not far from the canal that was just searched.

Shane Montgomery was last seen on late Wednesday night/Thanksgiving morning, at approximately 2:00 a.m. He was reportedly escorted from the pub and was stumbling on his feet. However, the bouncer who removed him from the bar claims that he was not so drunk that he couldn’t stand up on his own two feet. In other words, he was reportedly in good enough condition to walk away from the bar without someone having to call him a taxi. So what happened to him?

While his loved ones frantically search for him, a reward is being offered to anyone who can bring closure to this case. The amount the reward is around $25,000.00 but is increasing rapidly. Kildaire’s Pub, which is where he was last seen, has posted $10,000.00 of that growing reward. ABC News 7 reports that there are multiple accounts of what led to him being tossed from the bar. Karen Montgomery shared her insight with reporters.

“From what I understand he banged into the DJ table or a bar stool. There’s been a couple different accounts of what he banged into. One of the bouncers said to him, ‘you know you have to leave.’ He put his hands up and said ‘I’m on my way out.’ They walked him out the door, and that’s supposedly the last time anyone saw him.”

Surveillance footage is still being reviewed in hopes of determining where Shane might have gone. Meanwhile, his family believes that someone out there is sitting on information that may be useful in locating him. With alcohol being involved, there is simply no telling what might have led to his disappearance. He could have been very inebriated, leading him to stumble into his own demise, or he could have fallen victim to someone taking advantage of his vulnerable state. If he’s the victim of foul play, and not a terrible alcohol-related accident, the FBI will get to the bottom of it.

[Photo credit: NBC Philadelphia]