Family members still mourning loss of 21-year-old who drowned in Connoquenessing Creek
BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. (KDKA) -- Family members of Zaire Ellis are still in mourning after the body of the 21-year-old was pulled from the Connoquenessing Creek on Friday afternoon after a multi-day search.
Before leaving his home, Ellis' parents would always tell him to be safe. His mom would always say she wouldn't know what she'd do without him.
It's a reality she suddenly had to face.
Ellis' parents are living every mom and dad's worst nightmare: planning a funeral for their son.
"It just seemed so unreal to be setting [funeral] arrangements. Someone asked me what type of casket I wanted to bury my 21-year-old in. I wasn't prepared for nothing like this," Ellis' mother, Brandi, said.
Brandi last saw her son on Thursday.
"I heard him come in the house, then I heard him leave, and he didn't come say goodbye," she said.
Zaire had gone swimming with friends in Connoquenessing Creek near the Beaver-Butler county line. His friends told his parents that he was going across a rocky, shallow area before the creek suddenly became deeper.
"He wasn't a strong swimmer, and I think he panicked," Zaire's father, Anthony Price, said.
Crews searched for Zaire Thursday night and Friday morning before finding his body underwater. Price wishes he would have been there to save Zaire.
"People like him don't exist anymore; he was kind, he would give you the shirt off his back, he knew no strangers, [and] everyone fell in love with him," Brandi said.
On the day he died, he told his mom he was being offered a raise. It was the last time they talked before he left.
She had a chance to catch up to say, 'I love you,' like they usually do.
"And I said, 'No, I'm not going to do that for him today, I'm gonna let him go,' and I regret that moment."
It's a moment she's replayed in her head.
"I'm so hurt. I felt empty. I'm numb. I definitely feel like there's a part of me that's missing," Ellis added. "To know him is to love him. He knew no strangers, and I just miss him so much."
Ellis' dad told KDKA-TV that tomorrow is never promised and to never take today for granted.
Zaire's funeral is being planned for next weekend.
No cause of death has been released.