Families Mourn The Death of Two NYC Boys After Their Bodies Were Found in Separate Rivers

New York City police are investigating after two friends were found dead in separate Manhattan rivers.

Alfa Barrie, 11, and Garrett Warren, 13, were reported missing last week after being seen together in Harlem, CNN reports. Surveillance video shows the pair leaving a home together and walking past a large group of people. Their bodies were found days apart but were more than two miles away from one another in two different rivers. Warren was found on May 18 in the Harlem River, and police found Barrie’s body in the Hudson River near the Upper West Side two days later.

An Ana’s Fish Market employee told NBC News he saw the boys at the store purchasing a few items that night. Detectives working the case hope to speak to some people standing in the crowd the boys walked past. They’re also seeking to talk to anyone who knew the boys personally. “We need to speak that every single person that was with them,” NYPD Deputy Chief Brian Gill said. “We want to talk to their classmates.”

So far, there’s been no evidence of foul play, but the city’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner announced Warren’s cause of death was drowning. It’s still to be determined if it was accidental.

Family members of the two claim they were neighborhood buddies, but their families didn’t know each other too well, according to NBC. A family friend of Barrie says the 11-year-old was “charming.” “Young kid who was very charming, loving, very close to mommy, always helping mommy doing the work at the house, grocery or doing the laundry or cooking and cleaning the house,” Adhmadou Diallo told ABC 7. “Every time he gives his mommy a goodbye kiss when going to school — and that’s what happened on Friday when he left.”

Democracy Prep Public School, where Barrie was a student, released a statement on the tragic discovery. “He will be sorely missed by his teachers and fellow students. We also stand in solidarity with the family of Alfa’s friend, Garrett Warren,” the statement read. “While he was not a student, we understand that this is a difficult time for his community as well and share our prayers with them.”