Found Deceased MA - Michael Doherty, 20, Franklin, 14 May 2017

Evans refutes serial killer theory for bodies found in waterways
May 23, 2017

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...d-waterways/51A35WMn4zHhOjcvJ3htXO/story.html

There is also the possibility that Michael was placed in that location and his shirt and shoes were placed as well.

What happened to him should NEVER have happened to anyone and I hope the truth comes out and if there are guilty people--they are prosecuted.

tarabull said:

Evans refutes serial killer theory for bodies found in waterways
May 24, 2017

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...d-waterways/51A35WMn4zHhOjcvJ3htXO/story.html

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From the link some good points;

<snip>
"Evans said his “heart goes out” to families who have lost loved ones in this manner and stressed that friends must watch each other when they go out.

“Friends gotta be good friends and not let their friends wander when they’re in that type of shape,” Evans said"

<snip>
"He spoke to WGBH days after the body of Michael Doherty, 20, was found in woods in Franklin near Interstate 495, bringing a tragic end to a nearly weeklong search for the Duke University student after he left a party in that town around 1:30 a.m. on May 14 and never returned home. Foul play is not suspected in his death"

.

Hello, Sleuthers,

What a tragic outcome for this bright young man.

It could be a while before any autopsy results. This article from a few years ago, http://www.telegram.com/article/20140609/news/306099884?start=2 indicated the state Medical Examiner's Office had a serious backlog of over a thousand reports. Hopefully the problems have been cleared up by now. Michael's family, friends, and community need answers.

Just a few random thoughts:

Unfortunately, MD had so many things going against him that night - Under dressed for the weather, alcohol, not enough body fat to keep him warm, wet from rain and swamp/brook, darkness, dead phone, etc. I have no doubt that he became hypothermic at some point. The body's core temperature only has to drop about 3 degrees for hypothermia to set in. As someone else mentioned, water doesn't have to be that cold to cause the body to lose heat rapidly. Confusion and decreased motor function begin in the mild stage."Movements are slow and labored, accompanied by a stumbling pace" during the moderate stage. Irrational behavior, such as paradoxical undressing can also be seen in this stage. In other words, he would not even have needed alcohol or drugs in his system to explain his behavior once he got out there. It is possible that the answer to some of the "Why would he...?" questions is that he was irrational, not thinking logically. That could explain the strange path he took. He basically did not know where he was really going. No use trying to make sense of it. Once the hypothermia got to the severe point it was all over.

I guess something more sinister could have happened, but the chances are greater that it was a terrible accident, IMO.

A little surprised at the blame put on the parents by so many. My parents were about the best you could ask for - strict attorney father, college professor mother. I was a star student and my sister was president of her senior class, yet we had a party while my parents were out of town. Could they have been held responsible if someone had been injured or died on his/her way home? I don't know the law about such a situation, but how could it be their fault if they didn't even know what was going on? Just like the lady said about telling her daughters no company while she was gone. You might think you have taught your kids better, but that's what kids do. In a small town like mine, there is nothing to do but cruise up and down the main drag or go to the show (movies). If an opportunity for a party with no parents comes along, the young folks are going to take advantage of it.


I'm almost 60 years old but I remember how I was when I was MD's age. I can see stopping someone from driving when they have been drinking, but how uncool would it have been to stop someone from walking home? It would never have occurred to me that they might be in danger. (Unless they were knee-walking drunk maybe.)

For the sake of all those concerned, especially his family, I really hope Michael's death is determined to be an accident. That might make it a little easier to deal with, although it is heart-breaking either way.

msphilosopher said:

BMM - Dared or pranked still is a choice by Michael to part take. The first scenario I laid out was the dare scenario which doesn't make sense if he wanted to leave at 12:30 AM. The other I said was the pranked scenario but still Michael would have had to choose to take the challenge and head to house party (per your theory coming from Maple street) instead of saying "screw it" and going home either by the streets or through the marsh...

I think it's smart to consider he was coming from Maple street because it's a perspective that hasn't been considered until now. I'm only trying to make sense of it based on what we know...

Also, it seems like his shoes "wasn't washed up" on the other side based on the "condition". Source: http://www.necn.com/news/new-england/Search-Continues-for-Missing-College-Student-422490354.html

This whole incident is so baffling.

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I disagree that a prank means the person being pranked is a willing and knowing participant.

If you reread where I introduced the prank/dare scenario on this thread, it pretty much explains how it makes reasonable sense that Michael may have been pranked--with him not knowing this was going to happen. That's the definition of a prank--the person has no idea they are, for example:

Getting a ride home, but then finding out they were tossed out from the car on Maple Street to find their way back to the party house.

Think about it. Michael was very intelligent. Those who like to use the "simplest explanation is usually the explanation" as reasoning may need to look at the "simplest explanation" for why a very bright young man would end up, "fighting" (as reported) to get to that specific destination.

The easiest path from Maple Street is to cross the brook ONCE and then follow it to the party house.

As for the shoes--I read each post from start to finish on this thread. My very first post on this thread was to ask why there was much said (in comments here on this thread) about his "clean" shoe/s. I could not find any reports on this. I only found that one or more of the shoes (depending on reports) did not appear "washed up" (as I explained earlier in my comments).

Also to the person who said there is a way to see the "trail" via maps. There is no clear view of the "trail". Thank you for the link, but I had looked at these as well. The "depression" is assumed a trail, but there is no ground view of any path/trail.

I would suggest, for those who are truly interested, to wonder about those who know the grounds of Maplegate Country Club (golf course). There is a possibility that if Michael was pranked (dropped off and then either woke up there or was awake and told "just do it" find your way back), that the person(s) who drove him there had knowledge of the golf course layout (or a membership or guest privileges).

Edited to add:

The 1:08AM ping happened from Michael's phone but it has not, in any way, been conclusively determined exactly from where in the "marsh area" his ping precisely originated. It has only been determined to come from the "marsh area".

No where, in any report, is it positively determined and stated as fact that that 1:08AM ping came from the Oak Extension "trail entrance".

They took that 1:08AM ping location (from that "marsh area") and expanded out in a mile circle to search.

They assumed he went from Oak Extension in Franklin INTO Bellingham. The brook is between Franklin and Bellingham with the Bellingham side being the Maplegate Country Club golf course. They focused their search on the assumption Michael went into Bellingham.

Meanwhile, Michael is not there, apparently, and is near the party house in Franklin.

JuniorSleuthy said:

There is also the possibility that Michael was placed in that location and his shirt and shoes were placed as well.

What happened to him should NEVER have happened to anyone and I hope the truth comes out and if there are guilty people--they are prosecuted.

Click to expand...

If the body was moved, which I don't believe, I'm hoping that the ME would discover that - pooling of blood, etc.

abricru said:

Hello, Sleuthers,

What a tragic outcome for this bright young man.

It could be a while before any autopsy results. This article from a few years ago, http://www.telegram.com/article/20140609/news/306099884?start=2 indicated the state Medical Examiner's Office had a serious backlog of over a thousand reports. Hopefully the problems have been cleared up by now. Michael's family, friends, and community need answers.

Just a few random thoughts:

Unfortunately, MD had so many things going against him that night - Under dressed for the weather, alcohol, not enough body fat to keep him warm, wet from rain and swamp/brook, darkness, dead phone, etc. I have no doubt that he became hypothermic at some point. The body's core temperature only has to drop about 3 degrees for hypothermia to set in. As someone else mentioned, water doesn't have to be that cold to cause the body to lose heat rapidly. Confusion and decreased motor function begin in the mild stage."Movements are slow and labored, accompanied by a stumbling pace" during the moderate stage. Irrational behavior, such as paradoxical undressing can also be seen in this stage. In other words, he would not even have needed alcohol or drugs in his system to explain his behavior once he got out there. It is possible that the answer to some of the "Why would he...?" questions is that he was irrational, not thinking logically. That could explain the strange path he took. He basically did not know where he was really going. No use trying to make sense of it. Once the hypothermia got to the severe point it was all over.

I guess something more sinister could have happened, but the chances are greater that it was a terrible accident, IMO.

A little surprised at the blame put on the parents by so many. My parents were about the best you could ask for - strict attorney father, college professor mother. I was a star student and my sister was president of her senior class, yet we had a party while my parents were out of town. Could they have been held responsible if someone had been injured or died on his/her way home? I don't know the law about such a situation, but how could it be their fault if they didn't even know what was going on? Just like the lady said about telling her daughters no company while she was gone. You might think you have taught your kids better, but that's what kids do. In a small town like mine, there is nothing to do but cruise up and down the main drag or go to the show (movies). If an opportunity for a party with no parents comes along, the young folks are going to take advantage of it.


I'm almost 60 years old but I remember how I was when I was MD's age. I can see stopping someone from driving when they have been drinking, but how uncool would it have been to stop someone from walking home? It would never have occurred to me that they might be in danger. (Unless they were knee-walking drunk maybe.)

For the sake of all those concerned, especially his family, I really hope Michael's death is determined to be an accident. That might make it a little easier to deal with, although it is heart-breaking either way.

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While I appreciate your thoughtful opinion, I can't understand this theory of hypothermia.
Did he developed hypothermia within minutes of stepping out the door?
How/why would that set in so quickly?
I can't understand this at all.
It wasn't that cold out.
Yes, he was wearing only a t-shirt, and he may have been wet from the rain, but to be so hypothermic so quickly to cause him to die?
Was he so severely disoriented due to hypothermia when he begin what should have been a short walk home?

I continue to believe what we know is not everything or accurate.
And I continue to hope his family gets to know the truth, and I can't see why they wouldn't.

Many examples, sadly, from which to choose. In a follow up to the "prank gone wrong" theory. When a prank goes wrong, resulting in death or injury, it appears that the statement "no foul play" is used.

For example in this sad case:

An Alabama teen was shot in the head by a friend when a prank backfired, NBC station WLBT.com reported.
Jesse Rainey, 15, and seven other teenage boys, were spending the weekend without adult supervision at a rural home in Tuscumbia, AL.com reported.

The police have found no evidence of drugs, alcohol, or foul play.

https://bossip.com/662733/out-of-pocket-alabama-teenager-shoots-his-friend-in-the-head-when-scare-prank-goes-wrong-43081/

I don't understand the hypothermia theory. People go to muddy concerts doing drugs and drinking in the rain and people aren't dying en masse from hypothermia. Isn't plain old alcohol poisoning or hitting his head more likely?

Also I am still in the camp of parental responsibility for parties. It doesn't matter if there are thousands of house parties where no one dies. Thousands of people drive drunk where no one dies but we still hold drunk drivers responsible because of the risk. If you serve alcohol to minors, you should be responsible for the consequences. JMO

Alethea said:

I don't understand the hypothermia theory. People go to muddy concerts doing drugs and drinking in the rain and people aren't dying en masse from hypothermia. Isn't plain old alcohol poisoning or hitting his head more likely?

Also I am still in the camp of parental responsibility for parties. It doesn't matter if there are thousands of house parties where no one dies. Thousands of people drive drunk where no one dies but we still hold drunk drivers responsible because of the risk. If you serve alcohol to minors, you should be responsible for the consequences. JMO

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But how did they (the parents) "serve" alcohol to minors if they didn't even know the party existed? They weren't there. What if the homeowners weren't the ones who even (unknowingly) furnished the alcohol? Aren't these kids old enough to take some responsibility?

ArtChick83 said:

With a quick address search and Michael's FB friends list it was pretty easy to figure out which friend threw the party on Phyllis Lane. I'm wondering why we haven't heard anything from him or about him. The silence is quite sketchy to me but maybe I'm just looking for reasons to be skeptical.

Also, I feel like it's worth mentioning that just because Michael "liked" (gave thumbs up) to a survivor show on Facebook doesn't mean it was his favorite show or that he even watched it a lot. I have several shows in my "likes" that I haven't watched in years.

And for those of you who haven't seen Impractical Jokers - it's more about public embarrassment and putting the main characters through silly and awkward interactions with random people. It's not like Fear factor or an "I dare you to go into the pitch-black forest and find your way home" kind of show. There is nothing dangerous about the things they do on the show and rarely involve them doing things by themselves. It seems very different to me.

Michael's funeral was this morning. Too bad it was so rainy and cold here .

Click to expand...

Surely I hope you weren't thinking I was suggesting they were going to do a reenactment of this show (Impractical Jokers). It (per his Duke friends) indicates a strong viewership & interest in a pranking show. As for the survivalist show whose topic is swamps, it was not a simple thumbs up, it was on his Facebook as the only show listed as his interest (for television).

I bring/brought the pranking up because this happened once before in a swamp tragedy (resulting in death), whereby it is alleged said deceased was pranked (by "friends") by being pointed toward the swamp area instead of the road back to her home.

Showing an interest in "pranks", which seems to be a long-lasting trend (for viral videos/shows/etc), it would not be far fetched to think it may have been a prank gone wrong.

It would make sense, too, in regard to location of items (their condition (not "washed up"), the dog tracking to Maple Street (instead of from Maple Street), as well as where Michael finally rested (near party house).

Curiosity7 said:

While I appreciate your thoughtful opinion, I can't understand this theory of hypothermia.
Did he developed hypothermia within minutes of stepping out the door?
How/why would that set in so quickly?
I can't understand this at all.
It wasn't that cold out.
Yes, he was wearing only a t-shirt, and he may have been wet from the rain, but to be so hypothermic so quickly to cause him to die?
Was he so severely disoriented due to hypothermia when he begin what should have been a short walk home?

I continue to believe what we know is not everything or accurate.
And I continue to hope his family gets to know the truth, and I can't see why they wouldn't.

Click to expand...

One word, in my opinion, can explain so much of his odd behavior:

DRUGS.

I'm not accusing Michael of taking anything, because it's also quite possible someone gave him something without his knowledge.

But substances can make you do very strange, illogical things.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Normancita said:

One word, in my opinion, can explain so much of his odd behavior:

DRUGS.

I'm not accusing Michael of taking anything, because it's also quite possible someone gave him something without his knowledge.

But substances can make you do very strange, illogical things.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

1000% agree.

Normancita said:

One word, in my opinion, can explain so much of his odd behavior:

DRUGS.

I'm not accusing Michael of taking anything, because it's also quite possible someone gave him something without his knowledge.

But substances can make you do very strange, illogical things.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Wondering how that could be. He was responsible enough to call for a ride around 12:30AM (per reports) and wait for a response back (per reports). Let's say he waited 15 minutes, maybe just 10 for one of his brothers to text back. That would make it 12:40AM.

The last ping from Michael's phone was at 1:08AM.

Here's another odd thing--they said he left the "party" house (which they say was a gathering of friends), at 1:30AM.

The ping is true--but the 1:30AM time is not (how could it be, the 1:08AM ping was from some area in the marsh).

How did he get in the marsh area at 1:08AM in enough time from the 12:40AM time (12:30AM call to brothers, ten minutes waiting)? Did he run into the marsh? Seems unlikely.

I don't think Michael took drugs nor was given any. The 21-year-old(s) that said (per reports) he was "coherent" and he was coherent enough to walk and talk. Even though he had a "dead phone" and it was raining and dark.

Do you think his friends drugged him and sent him out the door? I doubt he'd take any drug and then walk home within the short time he would have had to take drugs ( it's doubtful he'd take a drug after calling for a ride from his family to be high when he got home).

HRP said:

Edited to add:

The 1:08AM ping happened from Michael's phone but it has not, in any way, been conclusively determined exactly from where in the "marsh area" his ping precisely originated. It has only been determined to come from the "marsh area".

No where, in any report, is it positively determined and stated as fact that that 1:08AM ping came from the Oak Extension "trail entrance".

They took that 1:08AM ping location (from that "marsh area") and expanded out in a mile circle to search.

Click to expand...

This news report and the corresponding picture and tweet by reporter Robert Goulston imply that a specific location near Oak St extension was marked with candles and was identied by police as the place of MDs phone's last ping:
http://www.fox25boston.com/news/cre...-search-for-missing-college-student/523828618

MissSuzie said:

This news report and the corresponding picture and tweet by reporter Robert Goulston imply that a specific location near Oak St extension was marked with candles and was identied by police as the place of MDs phone's last ping:
http://www.fox25boston.com/news/cre...-search-for-missing-college-student/523828618

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And I addressed that in an earlier post. The tweet is taken from the related report (which clearly says (as all the reports) that this is assumed or surmised or in plain words guessed to be the entrance point). That location has not been determined to be where Michael entered into the marsh. Check it out. Also, call the reporter, if need be. IMO that tweet was giving an area a "shrine" like feel based on poor wording on the part of the person who worded the tweet.

Edited to add: From your link, you can see the wording. The tweet took bold liberty (and is making fact from a "belief").

On Thursday, police focused on a one mile area where Michael's phone last pinged at 1:08 a.m. Sunday. Ribbon and candles marked the area where they believe he entered to take a shortcut home.

Edited to add: I called (myfoxboston). They are going to correct the tweet after they notify the tweeter to do so because it cannot be backed up as being the entrance point.

Edited again to add the link to where I addressed this "one reporter":

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...-Franklin-14-May-2017&p=13397877#post13397877

HRP said:

Wondering how that could be. He was responsible enough to call for a ride around 12:30AM (per reports) and wait for a response back (per reports). Let's say he waited 15 minutes, maybe just 10 for one of his brothers to text back. That would make it 12:40AM.

The last ping from Michael's phone was at 1:08AM.

Here's another odd thing--they said he left the "party" house (which they say was a gathering of friends), at 1:30AM.

The ping is true--but the 1:30AM time is not (how could it be, the 1:08AM ping was from some area in the marsh).

How did he get in the marsh area at 1:08AM in enough time from the 12:40AM time (12:30AM call to brothers, ten minutes waiting)? Did he run into the marsh? Seems unlikely.

I don't think Michael took drugs nor was given any. The 21-year-old(s) that said (per reports) he was "coherent" and he was coherent enough to walk and talk. Even though he had a "dead phone" and it was raining and dark.

Do you think his friends drugged him and sent him out the door? I doubt he'd take any drug and then walk home within the short time he would have had to take drugs ( it's doubtful he'd take a drug after calling for a ride from his family to be high when he got home).

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Your scenario of what may have occurred certainly sounds feasible HRP.

It is no doubt that there is more to this situation than Michael simply taking a shortcut (which really is not much of a shortcut from 63 Phyllis Lane to his home) and let us hope that law enforcement will not drop it and follow through.

Normancita said:

One word, in my opinion, can explain so much of his odd behavior:

DRUGS.

I'm not accusing Michael of taking anything, because it's also quite possible someone gave him something without his knowledge.

But substances can make you do very strange, illogical things.


Sent from my iPhone using Normancita

Click to expand...

Very possible and it makes sense.

Times are much different from back in the 70s. Parents were not as aware of the drugs as they are now. The laws for minors drinking and driving while drunk are much stricter. And parents serving minors or accidents occurring from drinking or drugs from a particular home or bar are held legally responsible. And kids are more educated about alcohol and drugs..and driving while intoxicated...why do you think ubers have become so popular? You cannot compare your experiences to now. And yes this family on Phyllis lane should be held responsible.

The walk from the home on Phyllis to the path into the woods is two minutes long. And again let me say it is in the wrong direction to his home. His body was found behind the Phyllis house two minutes in the other direction. Phyllis house being in the center of the path and location by jimmy ave where Michael was found. We won't know exactly what happened until the toxicology report, medical examiner report and a full professional interrogation of the party boys is complete. I hope the LE that are asking the questions have experience in this type of interrogation.