The friends and family of 15-year-old Kobe Clarence Pink mourned his sudden passing on social media on what would have been his 16th birthday.

Kobe was reported missing on Wednesday. His body was discovered along the shoreline near Pitt Street on New Year’s Day by a search and rescue team.

His brother, George Pink, took to social media on Monday, saying his “heart and soul is crushed” and "I wish you were here to celebrate it. I'm sure we would be playing some new game co-op eating pizza and making silly remarks as we always have."

"I will love you and remember you for the rest of my life,” George Pink wrote. “You are my life, my inspiration, my hope, my strength."

Nova Scotia’s Serious Incident Response Team is taking over the investigation.

“There hasn't been any allegation of wrongdoing here,” said SIRT director Ron MacDonald. “But again, you have an objective. An independent body such as ours to look at all the facts, so the public will understand what occurred.”

SIRT says the victim may have been attending a “gathering of youth” Wednesday night at a home on Peck Street in Sydney Mines.

SIRT says police were called to the home in response to a complaint unrelated to the victim.

“There is some evidence to suggest the young male whose body was found may have been at the seen of a gathering of youth that the police arrived at and some people ran off,” MacDonald said.

Wednesday at 10 p.m. was the last time anyone saw or heard from Kobe. SIRT is now handling the investigation because the police may have been the reason the teen left the get-together.

“Police have an obligation to connect us anytime that an injury or death may have occurred from the actions of police,” MacDonald said. “That test is broad enough to cover situations where it's unclear whether the police may have played any role or not. We come in, have a look at the facts, and report to the public what happened.”

The Serious Incident Response Team is responsible for investigating all serious incidents involving police in Nova Scotia, whether or not there is an allegation of wrongdoing.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.