WILLIAMSBURG, Brooklyn (PIX11) – The world watched as Eamon Stenson searched for his best friend, John Castic, who had gone missing after leaving the Brooklyn Mirage last July. His body was found days later in Newtown Creek.
About a month before, the family of Karl Clemente embarked on the same tragic search. The 27-year-old turned up in the same creek that separates Queens and Brooklyn.
The medical examiner determined both men died by drowning. Clemente’s death was ruled an accident. Funerals were held for both young men, and concertgoers continued to fill up the Mirage nightly.
But some questions remain as loved ones are left readjusting to life after such a massive loss.
“Life is quite short, as I found out. Anything could happen to you at any moment,” Stenson, a close friend of Castic, told PIX11 News. “I’d love to have a minute back with him.”
Missing John Castic
Many things conjure up memories of John Castic for his best friend, like seeing a movie or flipping through old videos of the pair gaming.
“I just wish he was kind of here at times,” Stenson said. “I know he’s with me every day; it’s just kind of tough.”
In the first few weeks, life moved at “a million miles a minute” for Castic’s friends, who quickly shifted from posting missing signs around Williamsburg to packing up his New York City apartment. Once everything settled, the hurt sunk in, Stenson said.
Stenson remembers Castic, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, as a brilliant man and an avid reader. He loved Chicago sports and having a good time with friends, and he had always wanted a dog. Stenson said Castic was the kindest person he’d ever met.
“He was [the] best friend that I’ve ever had; I loved him. He was my brother,” Stenson said. “If you needed to vent he was there, if you needed to laugh he was there, if you needed to cry he was there. And he would do that for everybody.”
In his honor, Castic’s friends are collecting donations in his name for a pet adoption center, PAWS Chicago.
Honoring Karl Clemente’s Legacy
On Friday, brightly colored roses drifted across the water near where Clemente’s body was found, a gesture from his loved ones to keep his memory alive.
“If we just keep him in our memories and just think about him, he’s still with us,” said Henry Sang, who met Clemente in 2015.
Clemente was born in the Bronx and was living in Queens when he died. He spent his days helping young people navigate mental health issues as a clinical case manager at the Advance Care Alliance of New York.
Clemente brought humor to every room he was in – and always roasted his friends. He loved Marvel, enjoyed road trips with his friends, and took on ridiculous challenges. He was a talented guitarist and composer and performed around New York City in a band.
“When I wake up in the morning, I open his door in his bedroom. I’m still wishing he’s there lying or composing songs,” his father, Alex Clemente, told PIX11 News.
Money that Clemente’s parents had saved up for him will now go toward a scholarship at a university in the Philippines, a medical mission in the Philippines and support for mental and behavioral issues.
“I feel like a piece of us is truly missing,” said Clemente’s friend from college, Nicole Christopher. “May Karl’s soul rest in peace.”
Searching for Answers
Clemente went missing on June 11, 2023, after being turned away from the Mirage, his father told the New York Post. His body was retrieved from Newtown Creek on June 16, 2023.
But it wasn’t until Castic, also 27, went missing that elected officials were notified of Clemente’s death, the first sign the NYPD was mismanaging parts of the case, according to City Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez, who represents parts of Williamsburg, Bushwick and Ridgewood.
Castic was reported missing after attending a show at the Brooklyn Mirage on July 29, 2023. A couple of days later, he, too, was found dead in Newtown Creek.
In the months after their deaths, elected officials were still in the dark about the NYPD’s investigation, according to Gutiérrez. So, the councilwoman pulled together a number of elected officials and NYPD personnel to get on the same page.
“It wasn’t to agitate, we wanted the investigating to get done; we wanted to bring closure to these families,” Gutiérrez said. “At what point, after which death are we like, OK, we need to figure something out.”
It was the only official meeting of its kind over the past year, but some answers have come in the time since.
A spokesperson for the NYPD told PIX11 News both Castic and Clemente’s cases are closed but refused to answer any of PIX11’s additional questions about the nature of the deaths and the investigations.
Both men died by drowning, according to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner. Only Clemente’s death has been officially ruled an accident. The manner of Castic’s death remains “undetermined,” but his father told news outlets there were no signs of foul play.
In the days after Castic’s death, concertgoers still poured into the Mirage as “missing” fliers plastered nearby poles.
For Stenson, it was frustrating watching the Brooklyn Mirage go back to business as usual when his life was anything but. Short of a statement posted to their Instagram story, the Mirage has made little public mention of Castic and Clemente’s deaths.
Gutiérrez agreed although she added that walkthroughs of the Mirage and discussions with security since the deaths have given her confidence the Mirage is making appropriate safety efforts.
“I do feel that there is a level of responsibility of looking where you’re at. You are a massive music venue… in an industrial area,” Gutiérrez said. “You are somewhere that is not intended for this many people on a single night. … and [the Mirage is] always going to have to take a million steps.”
Moving forward
Given the Brooklyn Mirage’s location in an industrial business zone, a slew of issues could contribute to an accidental death, like the lack of street lighting, poor cellphone and internet connectivity, damaged roads, and its proximity to Newtown Creek.
Many concertgoers identified similar safety concerns in a letter sent to elected officials last summer. They also expressed worries about crowd sizes and the lack of surveillance, all of which Gutiérrez said she has persued.
Improvements to the Industrial Business Zone’s infrastructure have begun but remain unfinished, Gutiérrez said.
According to its website, the Mirage has added light towers at nearby intersections and increased its “pedestrian and traffic team,” spreading personnel further out from the venue. The venue has also coordinated with the city to crack down on unlicensed drivers and designated rideshare pick-up locations. The venue is working with large carriers to improve cell service.
The venue is pushing for more city intervention like improved lighting, waterway fencing, sidewalk improvements and connectivity in the area, according to its website.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation said the agency has resurfaced several roads and improved street lighting conditions in the area, part of regular maintenance and in response to community concerns.
“These are young people… that didn’t have to die,” Gutiérrez said. “For two bodies to be found in the creek is not something we should become numb to.”
Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter from Los Angeles who has covered New York City since 2023. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter here.
