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Updated 2 hours ago
Dakota James walked through Katz Plaza in the Cultural District in Downtown Pittsburgh onto Scott Place, heading toward Fort Duquesne Boulevard and, presumably, his apartment on the North Side.
It’s the last glimpse of James since his Jan. 25 disappearance. Pittsburgh police said it’s unclear whether James turned left or right when he emerged from the alley onto Fort Duquesne Boulevard, but there is no footage showing him crossing a bridge to the North Shore or doubling back to Scott Place.
“The sad truth is the timeline will end around 11:49 p.m. when Dakota James vanishes,” Lt. Vic Joseph said Tuesday at a news conference regarding the missing Duquesne University graduate student.
James, 23, has been missing since a night out with coworkers Jan. 25. Security footage shows some of his movements upon parting ways with friends, but the trail goes cold at Fort Duquesne Boulevard, police said.
Police said they have waded through “countless hours” of surveillance footage from at least 24 locations across the city — from Port Authority bus cameras and security cameras throughout Downtown to cameras at Duquesne University and the North Shore.
They’ve scoured all three rivers and riverbanks, police said, as well as Downtown and the North Shore and area homeless camps. They have listened to tips from psychics, they said.
Divers checked the Allegheny River near the Sixth Street Bridge after cadaver dogs indicated a body might have been nearby, but the search turned up nothing, police said.
James’ parents, Pamela and Jeff James, did not attend the news conference, but Pamela James has remained vocal on her public Facebook page regarding the search.
“I feel that the police have given up,” she wrote in a post Tuesday morning. “Dakota is no longer their priority because there are no new leads so they are basically waiting for his body to show up. How can you tell a parent that?”
Police said they have been in constant contact with the James family.
“We understand they are grieving, and we are working hard to find their son,” Joseph said. “We remain hopeful that we will find him and want Dakota’s family and the general public to know we have not given up.”
Sgt. Matthew Redpath read the following timeline verbatim at the news conference:
Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 412-380-8519 or mguza@tribweb.com.
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