Police say video evidence shows 19-year-old Owen Tillman Kenney died by suicide after walking onto the Ravenel Bridge on Oct. 31.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Police recovered the body of College of Charleston student Owen Tillman Kenney on Saturday morning near Patriots Point, concluding a weeklong search that began after the 19-year-old vanished in the early hours of Oct. 31, authorities said.
Charleston police said harbor patrol units responded around 8:45 a.m. Saturday to a report of a body in the water off Patriots Point and, with help from regional agencies, recovered and identified Kenney. Investigators said they had already shifted the case from a search to a recovery effort after reviewing video that showed Kenney walking alone onto the Ravenel Bridge pedestrian walkway at 3:49 a.m. on Oct. 31. The Charleston County Coroner’s Office confirmed the identification Saturday. School leaders and police issued statements offering condolences to Kenney’s family and classmates.
Kenney was last seen by friends around 2 a.m. Oct. 31 in the area of King Street and Burns Lane, a nightlife corridor not far from his off-campus housing, police said earlier in the week. Detectives later confirmed that he headed toward the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge and entered the pedestrian path shortly after 3 a.m. His cellphone’s last recorded location was near the bridge at that time, according to investigators. As searches intensified, police deployed underwater recovery teams, K-9 units, drones and harbor patrol boats, with assistance from Mount Pleasant police, the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, Charleston County Rescue and other partners. “We hope this recovery brings some measure of closure to a family experiencing unimaginable loss,” Police Chief Chito Walker said, thanking volunteers and agencies that joined the effort.
Police said Wednesday they had confirmed, through direct review of recovered video, that Kenney died by suicide on the bridge before dawn on Oct. 31, prompting the pivot to recovery operations. Earlier updates had included a clothing description drawn from initial reports; on Tuesday, investigators corrected the record, saying subsequent evidence showed Kenney wore a black hooded jacket, light-colored pants and black Nike sneakers with white soles, not a Halloween basketball jersey as first believed. The agency also asked the public to avoid sharing rumors that could divert resources from verified leads. The College of Charleston said counselors were available to students and employees and asked the community to support Kenney’s loved ones. “There are no words that can ease the pain of losing someone so young and so full of promise,” College of Charleston President Andrew T. Hsu said in a Saturday statement.
Kenney, originally from New Jersey, enrolled at the College of Charleston this year and was in his second semester as a freshman, according to school communications. Friends told police they last saw him after a night out near the campus before he started the walk north toward the bridge that spans the Cooper River between Charleston and Mount Pleasant. The search covered the river, shorelines and bridge approaches for days. Police coordinated with the FBI and the New Jersey State Police for specialized support while keeping Kenney’s parents informed of each development. By late week, authorities said the mission had shifted and warned that speculation online was hindering progress, emphasizing that official updates would be posted by the department as they worked to bring Kenney home.
Saturday’s recovery drew a multi-agency response after a morning call placed from the waters near Patriots Point. Harbor patrol units secured the area and located the body. The coroner’s office confirmed the identity as Kenney later in the day. Police reiterated that their determination — based on time-stamped video and other evidence — was that Kenney took his own life after entering the pedestrian walkway at 3:49 a.m. Authorities did not release additional details about the video or the precise location where he left the span, citing the sensitivity of the case and the privacy of the family. No foul play is suspected, officials said. The department noted that its news releases often include information about crisis resources as part of standard practice in cases involving self-harm.
In the days after Kenney disappeared, volunteers and classmates shared flyers and retraced the route between downtown and the Ravenel Bridge. Residents described seeing search boats crisscrossing the Cooper River, with traffic slowed at times as officers staged around the bridge’s entrances. On Saturday, the river was calm under a high autumn sun as rescue crews worked along the Mount Pleasant shoreline. “Our priority has always been and will remain Owen’s family,” Walker said earlier this week, calling for compassion and privacy as recovery teams continued. Hsu, the college president, said the campus would “surround his family with love” and encouraged those grieving to lean on campus support services.
With Kenney’s body recovered and identified, police said the missing-person investigation is effectively closed and the case will proceed through standard post-recovery steps with the coroner. Any public record updates are expected to come from the Charleston Police Department and the Charleston County Coroner’s Office. Officials did not announce a timetable for additional disclosures but said any further information would be released in routine updates.
Author note: Last updated November 8, 2025.