NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Brandon Jenkins disappeared the morning of December 20th, and over a month later, was found dead under the ice in the Duck Pond at Edgewood Park in New Haven. His family held a memorial service for Brandon Saturday afternoon.
The service was held at the Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church of Christ in New Haven. The family mourning the tragic loss of their beloved son.
Brandon’s mother Brenda said, “He was my companion. He was always home, and I miss that so much”. Brenda was working her overnight shift as a nurse when Brandon left the house for the last time, around 7 am.
According to Brandon’s mom, he spent a lot of time at Edgewood Park, taking long walks, and working out on the pull-up bars. When Brandon went missing, she looked to the community for help and was overwhelmed by how many people her story impacted.
Al Lotto started the group Hamden Crime Watchers in November, and when word got out about Brandon Jenkins, the community wanted to come together and help. Lotto said, “When they found him I decided that it might be a really nice thing to get the community together since I had so many people following, and do a GoFundMe account to help his mom through this terrible, terrible thing”.
Their group raised $3,032.57 for Brandon’s family. Lotto said, “Nothing replaces a child but at a time in need, I hope that it’s a good thing”.
Family, friends, and community members visited the church to pay their respects, including the couple that discovered Brandon’s body under the ice.
“I want to offer my condolences to the Jenkins Family. He looked like a wonderful, wonderful kid, it’s just so sad” said Michael Wiener.
The couple that discovered the body of Brandon Jenkins at the Duck Pond at Edgewood Park said that they were out for their weekly walk, and decided to venture onto the ice. They noticed there was something just under the surface of the ice towards the middle of the pond, so they went to see what it was. “At first it was a surreal moment. We didn’t even know if it was a body. We weren’t sure if it was a mask. It was just a bizarre sight. You know it’s not something you see every day,” said Wiener.
Michael and his wife came to pay their respects, after communicating with Brandon’s Aunt over social media. “I don’t know how much closure there could be but hopefully what we did and what we found will help them get through this,” said Wiener.
The cause of Brandon’s death is still under investigation. An autopsy was performed to determine the cause of death.