Friends and family of Jonathan Cronkwright gathered on what would have been his 33rd birthday at the St. Catharines home where police say his body was discovered over the weekend.

Jonathan Cronkwright’s friends and family led the search for the man who had been missing since Feb. 29.

Ashley Cronkwright, his sister, was part of the search group that discovered his body at a home on Raymond Street on Saturday morning.

“When they told me he’s here I don’t even know how I felt. I don’t like I – I just like faded away from myself,” she said of the moment. “I didn’t expect to find him in these conditions, in a place like this and the way they left his body up there and just living their lives is just mind blowing to me.”

Though a cause of death has yet to be confirmed by police, Ashley drew focus to drug addiction as a crisis and called on officials to do more in combating the issue.

“Especially in a town like this where there is such few supports for people who are struggling with addiction and the fact that it’s made easy for addicts to live with that lifestyle.”

Community members came out on Tuesday night to celebrate Jonathan’s life.

“It’s Johnny’s birthday today. He would’ve been 33 today and I promised him that I would find him before his birthday.” said Ashley.

Jonathan’s girlfriend Brandi Johnson says police should have done more in their search.

“The fact that we all had to come here and find him ourselves is disgusting to me because that’s not our job, that’s the police’s job.”

Few details have been confirmed in the investigation that Niagara police describe as ongoing.

“We have been canvassing witnesses and people who were in the residence. Our one district detectives are currently investigating to get a better understanding of the causes of death and the time leading up to his death.” said Const. Phil Gavin.