Police acting on a tip have discovered what appear to be the remains of a missing Philadelphia woman whose case has shaken a city accustomed to delays from its justice system, as Breitbart reports.
Authorities believe the body found in a shallow grave Saturday belongs to 23-year-old Kada Scott, a recent beauty pageant contestant last seen earlier this month, with charges already filed against a 21-year-old man linked to her alleged abduction.
Officers arrived Saturday morning at a wooded area near the former Ada Lewis Middle School following what was described as a “very specific” anonymous tip received overnight. Police had searched that area earlier in the week and already found signs that Scott had been there. This new information led them straight to the shallow grave.
Suspect Previously Avoided Prosecution
The man now charged in connection with Scott's disappearance, Keon King, is no stranger to law enforcement. He was charged just months ago in another abduction and assault case involving a different woman — a case that was dropped when both the alleged victim and a key witness didn’t show up to court. Turns out, that was a costly failure.
Now charged again, this time with kidnapping and other offenses related to Scott’s case, King is being held on a $2.5 million bail. Prosecutors are reopening the previous file as they begin drawing connections that may show a pattern of violent behavior.
Scott was last seen arriving for an overnight shift at a senior care facility during the first week of October. Her car was found there, but she never returned home — setting off alarms among her loved ones.
A Promising Young Woman Disappears
Her family had reason to be concerned. According to investigators, she had recently told them that she was being harassed by a stranger over the phone. Just days before she vanished, Scott was "in communication with an individual" later identified as Keon King, and is thought to have met him shortly after clocking out on October 4.
Authorities are now working to reconstruct her final movements. Forensic technicians are combing through the evidence to piece together how a bright young woman with a Penn State degree and dreams of the Miss USA crown ended up buried in the woods.
Scott’s father, speaking publicly for the first time, revealed she had just entered her first pageant months ago and was eager to continue. “She broke into it this past summer. It’s called Miss USA. That was actually her first time participating in a pageant,” he told Dateline. “She said she loved the experience and wanted to do it again.”
Cracks in Accountability Come to Light
The decision to drop King's prior case is now under the microscope. District Attorney Larry Krasner — never one to admit missteps — conceded his office “could’ve done better” when handling that earlier file. That case might have provided the warning signs needed to prevent this tragedy.
This isn’t the first time Krasner's policies have come back to haunt Philadelphia’s most vulnerable. When victims get discouraged or feel unsupported, they stop showing up in court. And when that happens, dangerous people walk free. There must be consequences, not excuses.
King’s reemergence in yet another disturbing case should challenge us to ask more of public officials who talk a better game than they deliver. When we fail to follow through on charges involving violent behavior, we’re not just risking recurrence — we’re practically inviting it.
A Community Left Grieving and Asking Questions
Search crews located Scott’s possible remains at 10 a.m. Saturday, in a wooded area scarcely more than a dumping ground. It was the kind of scene families dread and society should never normalize, but it’s one that law-abiding citizens are seeing more often than they ever should.
“The remains were found in a heavily wooded area after police received a ‘very specific’ anonymous tip overnight and officers searched the area,” said First Deputy Commissioner John Stanford, detailing what led officers back to a spot they'd already canvassed once before.
Despite all the tech, funding, and talk of reform, it took an anonymous source for this breakthrough — not a high-tech database, not groundbreaking prosecution work. Just one person who knew something and decided to speak up. That alone should tell us something about where the real power lies.
The police are continuing their investigation, with added pressure now on prosecutors to make their case properly, this time. The public will be watching closely as forensic evidence and communication records fill in the many blanks that remain.
But for the Scott family, no court case or apology will fill the void left by their daughter, who had only just begun to chase her dreams. And for the rest of us, the question remains: What would have happened if our institutions had done their jobs the first time?
