LI teen missing after NYC trip to meet online gaming contactNearly three weeks after a Long Island teenager vanished after traveling into Manhattan, police and his family say they believe the 15-year-old left home to meet someone he connected with through an online gaming platform.

Thomas Medlin, 15, of Saint James, was last seen on Friday, Jan. 9, after leaving the Stony Brook School and heading into New York City, as Daily Voice reported.

Medlin left the school around 3:30 p.m. and ran to the Stony Brook Train Station, according to Suffolk County Police. He was later seen at about 5:30 p.m. at Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan.

Investigators have since traced Medlin’s movements to the area of Cherry and Rutgers streets in Lower Manhattan, and later near Sands and Jay streets in Brooklyn, police said.

A photo released by Suffolk County Police shows Medlin wearing a backpack and holding a large object while walking on what appears to be a New York City subway platform.

Family members told News 12 Medlin’s disappearance is out of character and believe he may have traveled into the city to meet someone he became acquainted with through the online gaming platform Roblox. “He has never left us,” Medlin’s mother, Eva Yan, told the outlet.

Loved ones have been searching daily, organizing efforts across Long Island and Manhattan, checking homeless shelters, and canvassing areas where Medlin was last seen.

“Everyone loves him,” Yan said. “We just want him to be safe.”

Roblox launched an internal investigation after learning Medlin was missing, the company told CBS New York. They found no evidence that Medlin or anyone he was communicating with exchanged phone numbers or other personal contact information.

Messages reviewed were “consistent with typical in-game discussion,” and Medlin did not use voice chat, according to the company.

“We are holding Thomas and his family in our hearts as we hope for his safe return,” Roblox said in a statement. “We will continue to provide our full support to law enforcement throughout their investigation.”

In an update Wednesday, Jan. 28, Suffolk County Police revealed that Medlin was last seen on the Manhattan Bridge, where surveillance video captured a splash in the water.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Suffolk County Police Fourth Squad detectives at 631-854-8452 or call 911.

The disappearance of 15-year-old Thomas Medlin from Saint James, Long Island, has entered a new, perplexing phase with the discovery of a personal item that authorities say has shifted their perspective on the case. Suffolk County Police, in a recent update amid the ongoing investigation, confirmed that a water bottle believed to belong to Thomas was recovered during expanded search efforts. What has investigators particularly unsettled is not just the item’s identification as his, but its location—far from the Manhattan Bridge area where Thomas was last seen on surveillance footage—and the unusual condition of the bottle itself.

Thomas vanished on January 9, 2026, after leaving The Stony Brook School abruptly around 3:30 p.m. He hurried to the nearby Stony Brook Long Island Rail Road station, boarded a train to Manhattan, and was captured on camera at Grand Central Terminal around 5:30 p.m. Dressed in a black jacket with red stripes, dark sweatpants with white stripes, glasses, and carrying a black backpack, he appeared calm in those images.

The January 28, 2026, police release placed his final confirmed sighting on the pedestrian walkway of the Manhattan Bridge at approximately 7:06 p.m. His cell phone’s last activity occurred at 7:09 p.m., with no subsequent transmissions. Less than a minute later, around 7:10 p.m., a nearby camera recorded a sudden splash in the East River below. Thomas was never observed exiting the bridge through any pedestrian paths or monitored areas, leading to intense speculation about a possible fall or plunge into the water.

Despite this tight timeline and the “ominous splash” detail dominating headlines, the discovery of the water bottle has introduced unexpected questions. Authorities have not publicly specified the exact recovery site—only describing it as “far from what police had anticipated,” implying it was not in or near the East River or Manhattan Bridge vicinity. This discrepancy challenges assumptions that Thomas entered the water at that location or that his path ended there definitively.

The condition of the item has further raised eyebrows. Police statements indicate the bottle’s state—potentially involving signs of exposure, damage, or other anomalies—prompted considerations investigators “had never considered before.” While details remain guarded (as is common in active missing persons cases to protect investigative integrity), this phrasing suggests possibilities such as prolonged environmental exposure inconsistent with a recent water entry, evidence of tampering, movement post-disappearance, or environmental factors that don’t align with the bridge timeline. It has prompted authorities to reassess scenarios, including whether Thomas left the bridge area unobserved, encountered someone, or if external factors altered the expected trajectory.

No evidence of criminal activity has been identified, per repeated police statements. Forensic reviews of Thomas’s devices, social media, and gaming profiles (including Roblox, initially flagged by family concerns) cleared any links to his vanishing. The focus remains on the bridge events, but the water bottle find has broadened the search scope geographically and conceptually.

Thomas’s family continues to plead for information. His mother, Eva Yan, has emphasized her son’s loving nature and urged anyone with details to come forward, stressing he is not in trouble and is deeply missed. Public appeals seek videos, dashcam footage, or sightings from the Canal Street, Manhattan Bridge, or Brooklyn areas between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. on January 9. Tips can be submitted to Suffolk County Police Fourth Squad at 631-854-8452 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers.

As the case approaches its fourth week, the water bottle discovery injects fresh uncertainty into what had seemed like a tragically narrow sequence of events. It underscores the complexities of missing persons investigations—where even a single ordinary item like a water bottle can upend assumptions and open new avenues of inquiry. For Thomas’s loved ones, every detail offers a mix of hope and heartache as the search persists.