When police pulled a 2003 Jeep Cherokee from the Schuylkill River near Columbia Bridge on Jan. 15, it was in neutral with the driver’s door open but there were no signs of injury. For the next six weeks, Immanuel “Manny” Tharrington’s friends and family feared the worst, which became reality Monday when the 32-year-old’s body was found in the water near the Robert Gillin Jr. Boathouse.
The discovery didn’t completely answer their questions about what happened. Tharrington, who was slated to move to Las Vegas for a job with Saks Fifth Avenue, was last seen Jan. 14. Friends with him at Dandelion Restaurant that night say he went to Club Whisper alone. He left the Walnut Street club alone around 2:15 a.m. When the vehicle was found later in the day, ice had accumulated on it. Kelly Drive is located between the club and 1100 block of West Erie Avenue, where police listed his address.
Club Whisper has since made surveillance footage available to investigators, but authorities have not released any information about his death and an autopsy remains incomplete. It will be finished in coming weeks. Tharrington was cremated yesterday and loved ones who distributed “Where’s Manny?” flyers via hand and Facebook tentatively planned a memorial at the Belmont Plateau on May 14.
