Kada Scott, a 23-year-old Philadelphia woman reported missing last week, may not be missing voluntarily, police said Friday.
While stopping short of saying there may be foul play in the case, a top Philadelphia police official said there are troubling facts connected to Scott’s case.
The news comes as police are actively searching parts of the 55-acre Awbury Arboretum property in the city’s East Germantown neighborhood, looking for evidence of Scott.
Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said investigators are scouring the area north of Washington Lane. The department brought in new cadets to assist with the search and had K-9s in the heavily wooded area earlier Friday morning, Vanore said.
Scott’s family reported her missing on Sunday after she left for work from the 8300 block of Rodney Street in East Mount Airy, police said. Scott’s mother said she works an overnight shift at The Terrace at Chestnut Hill, an assisted living facility, according to police.
Police said Scott arrived at work in her car and left before her shift ended, with her coworkers seeing her shortly before she left work early. Police said she didn’t leave work in her car, and her phone is off.
Scott is 23 years old, 5 feet, 6 inches and weighs 120 pounds, police said.
Vanore said police developed evidence leading them to Awbury Arboretum, which is about 3 miles away from her last appearance. So far, the deputy commissioner said police haven’t found anything related to the investigation.
“It’s all wooded area mostly,” Vanore said. “There’s a lot of fences and activity going on in there, so it wasn’t very easy to search with just a few detectives.”
Police said earlier this week that before Scott went missing, she told her friends an unknown individual or individuals were harassing her by phone. Vanore said Friday that police are still investigating to learn more about who was allegedly harassing her.
Police would not say if they’ve interviewed any persons of interest in Scott’s disappearance.
“Twenty-three-year-old who is a social media person, as we hear. She disappeared off social media, so it’s concerning,” Vanore said. “Any young people today — they can’t live without having that phone in their hand, so that’s a concern. Left her car behind. It’s certainly something that’s not usual for someone who’s missing voluntarily.”
Police don’t know if foul play is suspected, but Vanore said they’re doing all they can to find Scott.
“It’s a troubling missing person report,” Vanore said. “We don’t know if foul play was involved, but we certainly see some signs that this person wasn’t voluntarily missing, so because of that, we’re doing everything we can to figure out who she contacted and where she is now.
Scott’s family said they’re hopeful she will still come home.
“I never went through this before. Trying to remain, keep my composure, hoping everything works out,” Kevin Scott, Kada Scott’s father, said. “I just want her back. It’s my daughter. We’re all concerned. It’s going on a week as of tomorrow. Just want her back as soon as possible, make sure she’s safe, want her back home.”
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 215-686-TIPS.