KANSAS CITY, Mo.— Questions remain unanswered after a Kansas City, Missouri teenager, who had not been seen for weeks, was found dead in a wooded area near his home.

The discovery was made by a group of his peers helping in a search party effort.

The same group planned a candlelight vigil to honor 18-year-old Amara Jones and their hope is to bring more attention to the case.

“If it wasn’t for the search party, we might not have ever known what happened to him,” said Jones’ close friend, Braydon McGill. “He was just about to graduate, just turned 18. Doesn’t make sense.”

McGill and other friends describe Jones as “the life of the party.”

They say he brought so many people together and in death, he is doing the same thing.

Dozens showed up lighting candles in hopes of shining a light on the way Jones died.

“I started a petition because I really wanted there to be a thorough investigation,” said Koby Cannon. I’m trying to bring the community together, to get answers.”

“It was hard to see one of your closest friends, your brother, lifeless. It hurts,” said Dorrion Northern. “At times I still have the image in my head. It’s not going away any time soon.”

By remembering Jones together, their hope is they can all begin to heal.

“I feel like I didn’t lose a friend, a loss a brother,” said classmate JT Taylor. “Definitely going to be hard, in the hallways and the memories of him. I have a class with him too, seeing that seat empty, like he’s gone forever.”

Kansas City police say foul play is not suspected but it also has not been ruled out.