Homicide detectives are asking for the public’s help to identify the killer of a homeless man whose body was found last month floating the Schuylkill River.
Joshua Daywalt, 35, was pulled from the water on the morning of Friday, Feb. 7, near Kelly Drive and Midvale Avenue in East Falls, according to authorities. The next day, the Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death a homicide after determining he was killed by a gunshot wound to the head, police said.
No suspects have been identified since, and there was no word on a possible motive.
Daywalt was from Phoenixville but had been living on the street, primarily in Manayunk near the Green Lane Bridge, investigators said, adding that he was also known as Michael Hall.
A father of two, he had been diagnosed with several serious mental health conditions, including schizophrenia, his mom, Jennifer Daywalt, said in an obituary. She described her son’s struggles as “relentless, isolating, and devastating.”
“As his family, we tried to save him from the chaos that had become his existence,” Daywalt wrote. “But the system meant to protect him is broken. The resources were not there. The doors kept closing.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or call or text 215-686-TIPS (8477). The PPD said a $20,000 reward is being offered for tips leading to an arrest and conviction.
