2 bodies found in Manhattan Rivers are identified as missing boys

The bodies of two boys, who family members said were together shortly before disappearing more than a week ago, have been recovered from several locations in the waters around Manhattan, police said Saturday.

One of the boys, Alfa Barrie, 11, who lived in the Morrisania neighborhood of the Bronx, was last seen on May 12, police said. Alfa was reported missing to police on May 14, and his body was recovered Saturday morning in the Hudson River off West 102nd Street.

The other, Garrett Warren, 13, was last seen outside his Harlem home around 1:30 a.m. May 13, according to police. Garrett was reported missing Monday and his body was recovered Thursday morning in the Harlem River, on the east side of Manhattan.

It is unclear how and when the two boys entered the water. Police said investigations into the cause of the deaths are continuing. On Saturday, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office said Garrett’s cause of death was accidental drowning.

An investigation will also be conducted to determine Alfa’s cause of death, she said.

Since the boys have been reported missing, search attempts had been going on, led by their families and community members.

In a interview this week with Africa in Harlema multilingual community news site, Alfa’s mother and sister said they last spoke to him before he started school at Democracy Prep Harlem Middle School on the morning of May 12.

Fatima Diallo, Alfa’s sister, said she did not know Garrett before Alfa’s disappearance and only realized he was also missing when she saw a flyer posted by his mother.

Friends who were with the boys on May 12 told Alfa’s family that they last saw them on 145th Street in Harlem and then separated from them.

Police obtained footage from security cameras at Anas Fish Market on 145th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard, which showed the two boys there after school around 3:30 p.m. on May 12, she said.

The family was alerted that Alfa was missing when another sister, who lives in the Bronx, called Saturday morning to say he missed his Friday night ritual of the night at her house, Ms. Diallo said. Alfa often left school after being discharged early on Friday and traveled to the Bronx with his younger sister, who attends the same school, she said.

Police said they responded around 10:15 a.m. Thursday to reports of a body found in the water near the Madison Avenue Bridge. Garrett’s mother was notified of his death that evening at the 32nd Precinct and later identified him, said Iesha Sekou, the CEO and founder of Street Corner Resources, an anti-violence organization headquartered in Harlem.

“It was just heartbreaking,” said Ms. Sekou, who had worked with the boys’ families and police during the search.

“I’m a mother,” she said. “And so there’s no way you could be a mom and not feel that, in particular.”

A team of field workers with her group first learned that two people, initially reported as adults, had fallen into the river on May 12, she said. The next morning, children in the community said it was actually two children, she said.

For Ms. Sekou, the deaths of the two boys highlighted the dangers of the areas around the city’s rivers. She said her organization had spoken with city leaders about the problem and the need for more safe spaces for children to spend their time.