Found Deceased AL - Garrett Walker, 20, left bar, University of Alabama student, Tuscaloosa, 6 Nov 2021

[PommyMommy]

NOV 8, 2021
Tuscaloosa police and fire crews searching Black Warrior River for missing UA student (cbs42.com)
[...]

Police Chief Brent Blankley says he believes Walker is in the river because of evidence found on the Black Warrior River bank. Walker’s cell phone and some clothing items were discovered on the bank near the river walk.

“We have reason to believe he is in the Black Warrior River, we retrieved some of his clothing items that led us to believe this. Our divers have been in the water nonstop and will continue to stay in the water to try to locate him inside the river.”

[...]

“We are utilizing drones in the air to see if we can locate anything on the bank. We’ve done numerous underwater searches and they are running both ends of the river back and forth looking for anything using side scan sonar. If they find anything we will drop a buoy and we will bring in a diver to check.”

Chief Smith tells CBS 42 dive teams and rescue boats are planning to search the Black Warrior River until 9 p.m. Monday night and are planning to resume the search Tuesday if necessary.

 

[branmuffin]

JMO but my theory is that people that have wbeen drinking a lot, urinate a lot. And, males in that age group are more inclined to urinate outside and river side is the perfect spot in their minds.

I totally agree. It's not just that they are men. I'm sure women on occasion have relieved themselves outside but considering they usually squat the chances of them losing their balance and falling into the drink are pretty remote. Men usually face a wall as a position of privacy. Relieving themselves at a river bank or a dock is similar but it means the chances are much higher they'll lose their balance and fall into the water. In the last year on WS we've had at least 3 or 4 men drowning in water after leaving a bar highly intoxicated, the most recent one being Inaki Bascaran in Chicago this weekend.

 

[ThoughtFox]

Is this a place a person who has been drinking might decide to go for a swim at night? Could he have placed his phone and his coat (or whatever, I don't know which clothes were found or how the phone looked when found, placed carefully somewhere away from the water or dropped accidentally close to the river?) to go into the river for a night-time "dip" under the stars?
(I realize the water was probably very cold.)

I'm just trying to figure out if he fell into the river accidentally, why his phone didn't go in with him. No matter how, it sounds like a true accident at this time.
Poor guy.

My heart goes out to his parents and other relatives .

Too cold and too deep of a river to swim at night. An intoxicated person might try it, though. Very sad!

 

[azure]

Having studied the map, I can't figure out why he would go to the Riverwalk at that time of night. It really makes no sense.

When I attempted suicide, it was after a lively night out. A very stressful situation at my business has magically resolved itself, I'd recently taken a lovely trip abroad, for all outward intents and purposes, my life was going great. Except it wasn't. I got heavily drunk and decided to die that night. Thankfully, I failed in my attempt, and I'm doing fine now. But I think it shouldn't be underestimated how much liquid courage can contribute to the decision to attempt suicide. His phone being found by the river sounds intentional to me, IMO. Who knows, maybe he went for a pee, left his phone nearby where it wouldn't get wet, and simply slipped in. However, I think some of these youngsters found in rivers may have tragically decided to go in on purpose.

 

[otto]

When I attempted suicide, it was after a lively night out. A very stressful situation at my business has magically resolved itself, I'd recently taken a lovely trip abroad, for all outward intents and purposes, my life was going great. Except it wasn't. I got heavily drunk and decided to die that night. Thankfully, I failed in my attempt, and I'm doing fine now. But I think it shouldn't be underestimated how much liquid courage can contribute to the decision to attempt suicide. His phone being found by the river sounds intentional to me, IMO. Who knows, maybe he went for a pee, left his phone nearby where it wouldn't get wet, and simply slipped in. However, I think some of these youngsters found in rivers may have tragically decided to go in on purpose.

It seems like a suicide at this time. Perhaps he was overwhelmed by the vastness of his studies. What year was he in with his studies?

Even the maps give the appearance that he walked farther away from home, towards the river, put his phone on the ground, removed some clothing, and let water move his body downstream.



Google Maps

 

[katydid23]

It seems like a suicide at this time. Perhaps he was overwhelmed by the vastness of his studies. What year was he in with his studies?

Even the maps give the appearance that he walked farther away from home, towards the river, put his phone on the ground, removed some clothing, and let water move his body downstream.

View attachment 321082

Google Maps

I think that^^ is a possible scenario.

If he had accidentally fallen in while urinating, I think his phone would have still been in his pocket.

 

[distracted]

This breaks my heart.

Alcohol is a depressant. A lot of it can make someone do things they may not do when sober, especially when so young without the coping skills someone older would likely have. And then there's the lure of the water. It's a deadly combination.

 

[Scrapper18]

It seems like a suicide at this time. Perhaps he was overwhelmed by the vastness of his studies. What year was he in with his studies?

Even the maps give the appearance that he walked farther away from home, towards the river, put his phone on the ground, removed some clothing, and let water move his body downstream.

View attachment 321082

Google Maps

I think that^^ is a possible scenario.

If he had accidentally fallen in while urinating, I think his phone would have still been in his pocket.

IIRC, he is a Junior. I have not heard anything that would suggest suicide. Not saying it’s impossible. I just have not heard anything to indicate he was struggling. I’m still leaning towards a high blood alcohol level that impaired his judgement and he simply decided to go for a swim. MOO

ETA, I think he removed the clothing and put his phone down, out of habit. This is what he would normally do before swimming.

 

[T4Tide]

I’m currently sitting across the river from the search site. There’s an old concrete staircase up the other side of the river bank. They are dropping bouys where sonar finds something but I only see one today and it’s a little upstream. The helicopter is flying back and forth overhead. They are searching the exact same spots as yesterday, so I don’t know what lead they have that makes them think he’s right there. I’ve watched several logs, debris, etc float past me in just the 30 min I’ve been here. I wish they were searching the bank more.

 

[T4Tide]

Steps down to the river, view from across the river.

 

[T4Tide]

And sorry for the poor quality pics. The site keeps telling me they are too large to upload.

 

[Bplj54]

What’s odd to me is that the river is in the opposite direction he would travel from the bar to get home. I’m familiar with the area, and IMO it’s also a strange place for him to end up after a night out, despite the close proximity.

Hoping the family gets answers soon!

 

[distracted]

And sorry for the poor quality pics. The site keeps telling me they are too large to upload.

They're great! Thank you for sharing them.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

When I attempted suicide, it was after a lively night out. A very stressful situation at my business has magically resolved itself, I'd recently taken a lovely trip abroad, for all outward intents and purposes, my life was going great. Except it wasn't. I got heavily drunk and decided to die that night. Thankfully, I failed in my attempt, and I'm doing fine now. But I think it shouldn't be underestimated how much liquid courage can contribute to the decision to attempt suicide. His phone being found by the river sounds intentional to me, IMO. Who knows, maybe he went for a pee, left his phone nearby where it wouldn't get wet, and simply slipped in. However, I think some of these youngsters found in rivers may have tragically decided to go in on purpose.

I agree about the intentional dive in hoping to end one’s life. Alcohol is absolutely a factor in suicides. I know it was in my solitary attempt eight years ago. Considering the above: I still doubt it was a suicidal attempt in this case. It’s very possible, even probable, a frat boy dare was involved. If so, he wasn’t alone…
Fundraiser organized for missing UA student - The Crimson White

 

[Pimlipo]

Garrett Walker, missing University of Alabama student, found dead in Black Warrior River

Sad news unfortunately
RIP Garrett

 

[Suwannee]

Garrett Walker, missing University of Alabama student, found dead in Black Warrior River

Sad news unfortunately
RIP Garrett

Such horrible news for his family and friends. May God comfort his loved ones.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

TPD Chief Brent Blankley said divers recovered his body just before 4 p.m. Walker’s family and UA students have been notified, according to Blankley.

Divers focused on the area of the Black Warrior River near the old Bama Belle boat landing, according to TPD. Walker had been first reported missing Sunday afternoon.
Tuscaloosa police positively identify remains of missing UA student Garrett Walker

 

[Bethan]

This is so very sad.

Rest in Peace young man.

 

[JurassicParker]

Dang. I was catching up on the thread and then saw the most recent posts. I’m glad they found him. Just wish the outcome had been different. I was going to suggest maybe he met someone at the river walk for a night cap…meaning possibly getting some pot to come down from the nights excitement but also something he did to curb the stress from his classes. Maybe things went wrong. There is no evidence he was a user so this is just a thought and MOO. If it was suicide then I hurt for him. I’ve been down and considered it but never followed through. Sometimes life is too heavy for the gentler souls.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Idk why. I don’t think this was a suicide. I wonder if he knew how to swim.