Missing St. James teen Thomas Medlin found dead in waters off Brooklyn, police say

The body of a St. James teen who has been missing since Jan. 9 was recovered in the waters off Red Hook, Brooklyn, last week, Suffolk police said in a statement on Thursday.

Thomas Medlin’s body was found on Saturday, police said, but his remains were not identified until Thursday.

"Our beautiful boy is in heaven! We are both so proud to have him as our son," Medlin's grieving parents, Eva Yan and James Medlin, said in a statement to Newsday on Thursday. 

It was his mother who led the push for the media to cover his mysterious disappearance, while pleading for his return on social media. She spent countless hours in Manhattan, searching for him. She described Thomas Medlin as an outstanding student who excelled at tennis and piano.

"Every day is a struggle," Yan admitted to Newsday during the search, "but I have to be strong, to find my boy."

She said her son's death has inspired her to help others.

"We love him more than anything he could imagine," she said on Thursday.

Medlin, 15, left the Stony Brook School on Jan. 9 and was seen at Grand Central Station that afternoon.

Surveillance video recorded Medlin on the pedestrian walkway of the Manhattan Bridge at 7:06 p.m. that evening. The last activity on his cellphone was at 7:09 p.m. A surveillance camera recorded a splash in the water about a minute later.

"I've been praying for miracles for so many months," Yan said. 

Medlin’s family initially believed he had traveled to Manhattan to visit someone he had met on Roblox, an online gaming platform. But following an investigation that included the issuance of subpoenas and search warrants, Suffolk police later determined that Medlin’s disappearance was not linked to Roblox or other social media.

"There is no indication of criminal activity," Suffolk police said in a Jan. 28 statement.

Medlin's disappearance received attention from national media outlets, including USA Today, People magazine, CBS News and Fox News. His story was featured in the Hindustan Times, one of India’s largest English-language daily newspapers.

Yan said people from as far away as Sweden and Hong Kong reached out to express sympathy after Thomas was reported missing. Hundreds of people fanned out across lower Manhattan in the weeks after Medlin disappeared, handing out flyers and hanging posters seeking information about his whereabouts.

Medlin’s case also inspired countless posts on social media outlets, not only from family and friends, but also from thousands of strangers and amateur sleuths expressing condolences and offering tips on his whereabouts. 

Medlin was a gentle, intellectually mature young man who exuded positive energy, according to his mother, who said he did well in school. He often talked about what he could do to bring peace and harmony to the world. 

"I am so proud of my boy," Yan said. "I love him. I am heartbroken, but I love him, and I have to be strong to whatever he wanted, to help others."