After spanning the United States and some parts of Canada for months, in a search operation that involved the local police, community members, and even the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the body of an Iowa teenager who was missing since January has been found.
On May 2, police were responded to a call from a kayaker who reported seeing a body in the Des Moines River at Prospect Park. The body was then identified as Abdullahi "Abdi" Sharif, an 18-year-old boy who has been missing for more than four months.
According to the statement that the police shared on Facebook, Sharif's body was found submerged near the north bank of the river. In order to recover the victim's body, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources worked together with the Des Moines Fore Department during the water rescue.
As of the moment, the cause of Sharif's death is still undetermined. However, the police noted that during the autopsy there was no traumatic injury that was observed. Moreover, they noted that they will reveal the victim's cause of death when they receive the full findings of the autopsy.
What happened to Sharif?
The teenager first vanished on the 17th of January. He was working part-time at Target in the Merle Hay Mall. However, on the day of his disappearance it was noted that he did not have a shift, but his famly said that he usually would still hang out there.
Around 5 o'clock in the afternoon on the same day, Sharif posted a cryptic post on Snapchat which read, "bad bad news." When asked, his family said that they do not have any idea what the post meant. Around 9:30 PM, Sharif sent his mom a text message asking her to pick him up, but when she arrived, her son was nowhere to be found.
Based on the security footage from the establishment, Sharif left the store on his own volition. Moreover, Sergeant Paul Parizek told WHO-TV that the boy's phone was then powered off only a few minutes after he left the store.
Whilst Parizek said that it is not uncommon for teenagers to make sudden plan changes they noticed that the cat was out of the teen's character. Thus, they put in hundreds of investigative hours into the search for Sharif, however, every lead they get just opened up another question.
Finding Abdi Sharif
According to Parizek, Sharif's body was found near the last location that his phone pinged. Parizek also expressed sadness and said that this was not the ending that everyone involved wanted. He also added that as time passed by in the investigation they believed that they had a greater chance of finding him alive with an explanation on his disappearance.
Moreover, he said that while finding the body gives sharif's family a certain form of "closure," there are still many unanswered questions left. He also stressed that the case is far from closed.
A memorial will be held in honor of Sharif's life on Wednesday as announced by his family.
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