FL - Ryan Rogers, 14, fatally stabbed, Palm Beach Gardens, 16 Nov 2021 *Arrest*

[branmuffin]

I read the bike was on the path, kind of visible from the street. Ryan was down the swale. The pedestrian saw the bike and then looked and found Ryan. It's really strange that if the bike was there, it was not noticed until 9AM.

Not everyone would have been aware of the news of a missing boy on a bike. I do see bikes just left on bike paths or at the side of the road. I'll do a cursory look to see if anyone is hurt and keep going. I could see a pedestrian or even another cyclist taking a look but a driver would probably just keep going or not even notice.

 

[montana1]

I’m confused - after reading several posts re: where RR was found. Can anybody provide a very specific location? Tia

here some articles regarding where his body was found.

RR was not found on thin strip of grass, can’t confirm or deny if he was down the wooded embankment
www.wpbf.com/amp/article/ryan-rogers-homicide-federal-investigation/38381277

RR was found near the sidewalk
Ryan Rogers' death ruled a homicide, Gardens police say

States passerby spotted the bike and then the police found the body. This would indicate, IMO, that the body would have been out of site in the woods. Otherwise the passerby would have spotted the bike and body.
Death of 14-year-old in Palm Beach Gardens now considered a homicide

 

[Jon KIng]

We just don't have enough facts. At first, I was very suspicious of it being a close to home scenario; but with how little we have to go on, it could be so many things.

- Close to home scenario/crime of passion
- Stalker (if his bike rides were routine)
- Random (gang initiation)

I mean, really, how are any of these excluded? We just don't know enough.

I would say # 3 can be eliminated. We have lived here for many years, kids all involved with that school, Predators soccer, just is not a gang thing in this part of Palm Beach Gardens. Think total suburban mom/soccer kids, 4th of July community gatherings type of area. Everyone knows everyone, he literally grew up with same circle of kids since he was a toddler. I would say your scenario # 1 is possible. I would then add something like an online predator posing as a kid/girl his age could be another likely scenario. Go on Tik Tok and all the kids that age are posting constantly, every night many of them will post short videos of them dancing, licking something at a store, typical ridiculous kid stuff. They comment on each others Tik Toks. But very easy for an adult to simply fake a Tik Tok account, stealing videos and posting those as theirs, creating a fake profile. So I would go with close to home, online predator who tricked him into meeting, random adult bad guy just seeing an opportunity as my 3 likely possibilities.

 

[branmuffin]

Is it possible Ryan was going to meet someone at that location and left his bike where it was found? The only building I see relatively close to the location looks like a club house attached to a golf course.

 

[Jon KIng]

here some articles regarding where his body was found.

RR was not found on thin strip of grass, can’t confirm or deny if he was down the wooded embankment
www.wpbf.com/amp/article/ryan-rogers-homicide-federal-investigation/38381277

RR was found near the sidewalk
Ryan Rogers' death ruled a homicide, Gardens police say

States passerby spotted the bike and then the police found the body. This would indicate, IMO, that the body would have been out of site in the woods. Otherwise the passerby would have spotted the bike and body.
Death of 14-year-old in Palm Beach Gardens now considered a homicide

I would only caution about the third story, that police found his body and not the passerby. Not that it is false, just that it is only according to a local news station, early on, seems to be possibly a reporter assuming or extrapolating. It has not been 'common knowledge' or repeated many times as if it is totally confirmed. That embankment is not very steep and not very far to the start of the trees. So unless he was literally in the woods, not sure how the same person who found his bike would not have easily seen Ryan also. But again, maybe that is what happened, but would like more official confirmation from police before considering it a fact.

 

[montana1]

I would say # 3 can be eliminated. We have lived here for many years, kids all involved with that school, Predators soccer, just is not a gang thing in this part of Palm Beach Gardens. Think total suburban mom/soccer kids, 4th of July community gatherings type of area. Everyone knows everyone, he literally grew up with same circle of kids since he was a toddler. I would say your scenario # 1 is possible. I would then add something like an online predator posing as a kid/girl his age could be another likely scenario. Go on Tik Tok and all the kids that age are posting constantly, every night many of them will post short videos of them dancing, licking something at a store, typical ridiculous kid stuff. They comment on each others Tik Toks. But very easy for an adult to simply fake a Tik Tok account, stealing videos and posting those as theirs, creating a fake profile. So I would go with close to home, online predator who tricked him into meeting, random adult bad guy just seeing an opportunity as my 3 likely possibilities.

IMO, crime of opportunity would be last on my list. What kind of opportunity would there be with a 14yo on a bike? I lived in WPB for years and most of the crime of opportunity was petty theft - unlocked cars, open garages. Homicides were gang or drug deal gone bad and not likely involving a young teen. Even if it was someone who saw him riding his bike what would they try to take? His bike? Or maybe that’s how it started and he ended up severely injured and the person got spooked and ran away empty handed. But that would have likely happened at a time when there were cars around, not the middle of the night? I don’t know…. The case could be taken in so many directions.

 

[Jon KIng]

Is it possible Ryan was going to meet someone at that location and left his bike where it was found? The only building I see relatively close to the location looks like a club house attached to a golf course.

The building is a maintenance shed for the golf course. That would fit one of my possible scenarios, an online predator who concocted a fake Tik Tok or other teen app profile. Our kids know the kids who they interact with on Tik Tok and other social apps. But many kids will 'meet' kids their age from all over the world and that is interesting to them. They are exchanging videos with kids their age from Montana, other countries, and they think that is pretty cool. But if a predator wants to borrow videos and create a fake persona, its very doable. Perhaps an online predator concocting a fake teen profile, maybe a pretty soccer loving girl, forming a relationship online, setting up a meeting.....or some variety of this scenario.

 

[Jon KIng]

IMO, crime of opportunity would be last on my list. What kind of opportunity would there be with a 14yo on a bike? I lived in WPB for years and most of the crime of opportunity was petty theft - unlocked cars, open garages. Homicides were gang or drug deal gone bad and not likely involving a young teen. Even if it was someone who saw him riding his bike what would they try to take? His bike? Or maybe that’s how it started and he ended up severely injured and the person got spooked and ran away empty handed. But that would have likely happened at a time when there were cars around, not the middle of the night? I don’t know…. The case could be taken in so many directions.

I agree, my two most likely scenarios are close to home or online predator with fake teen profile who arranged a meeting. Totally random crime of opportunity would be a distant third, followed even further by a teen gang type scenario.

 

[Strange75!]

The building is a maintenance shed for the golf course. That would fit one of my possible scenarios, an online predator who concocted a fake Tik Tok or other teen app profile. Our kids know the kids who they interact with on Tik Tok and other social apps. But many kids will 'meet' kids their age from all over the world and that is interesting to them. They are exchanging videos with kids their age from Montana, other countries, and they think that is pretty cool. But if a predator wants to borrow videos and create a fake persona, its very doable. Perhaps an online predator concocting a fake teen profile, maybe a pretty soccer loving girl, forming a relationship online, setting up a meeting.....or some variety of this scenario.

yes, "Deep fakes". They can even make images say certain words or names and say whatever they want so that the person believes the image they are seeing is really the person they are interacting with. Scary stuff.

 

[Rush4087]

This is going to sound really crazy, but is it possible that RR was hit on the head by an errant golf ball launched from one of the tee areas at either end of the Old Palm Golf Club range (The Old Palm Studio high tech practice facility) area (or even out in the practice field itself) which is almost immediately adjacent to Central Boulevard bike path (blocked only in some areas by trees, but I’m am sure a towering hooking drive could easily clear those trees or thread it’s way through the limbs.

I don’t see any range lights on Google Earth, and I was unable to find any info online about range lights or teaching facility hours - but if somebody was hitting balls as the sun set or early evening (or even in the dark, which I’ve done a time or two) say around 7 -8:30, it’s not inconceivable that RR could have been hit in the head, traveled an additional 60 yards of so in the direction of 95, before collapsing in the woods on the right with a serious head injury. Dangerous swelling could have begun.

This is all pure speculation. I just can’t seem to get past the adjacency of the enormous high-end, high-tech range/teaching facility. I myself have hit wayward balls over side fences at ranges; balls that could’ve threatened a car or pedestrian. Glad nobody got hurt. After such an errant shot, I’d immediately switch to my wedge!

Not the craziest theory I’ve offered up on a webseuths case, but pretty close. All jmo

Prayers for RR and his family

 

[Cle2002]

I would only caution about the third story, that police found his body and not the passerby. Not that it is false, just that it is only according to a local news station, early on, seems to be possibly a reporter assuming or extrapolating. It has not been 'common knowledge' or repeated many times as if it is totally confirmed. That embankment is not very steep and not very far to the start of the trees. So unless he was literally in the woods, not sure how the same person who found his bike would not have easily seen Ryan also. But again, maybe that is what happened, but would like more official confirmation from police before considering it a fact.

It seems like the hill has a steeper slope as you get closest to the bridge. That’s the area LE had blocked off after he was Found from Tuesday-Saturday when it was announced a homicide. So my guess would be that he was in that area where it was steepest and the most difficult to see by a passerby.

not sure where the bike was found. That Tuesday morning they had a tent set up at more of the foot of the overpass bridge. Again a guess that maybe that’s where the bike was found?

I drove by that morning right around 9am just as police were beginning to congregate and had such a sad sinking feeling in my stomach

 

[Cle2002]

This is going to sound really crazy, but is it possible that RR was hit on the head by an errant golf ball launched from one of the tee areas at either end of the Old Palm Golf Club range (The Old Palm Studio high tech practice facility) area (or even out in the practice field itself) which is almost immediately adjacent to Central Boulevard bike path (blocked only in some areas by trees, but I’m am sure a towering hooking drive could easily clear those trees or thread it’s way through the limbs.

I don’t see any range lights on Google Earth, and I was unable to find any info online about range lights or teaching facility hours - but if somebody was hitting balls as the sun set or early evening (or even in the dark, which I’ve done a time or two) say around 7 -8:30, it’s not inconceivable that RR could have been hit in the head, traveled an additional 60 yards of so in the direction of 95, before collapsing in the woods on the right with a serious head injury. Dangerous swelling could have begun.

This is all pure speculation. I just can’t seem to get past the adjacency of the enormous high-end, high-tech range/teaching facility. I myself have hit wayward balls over side fences at ranges; balls that could’ve threatened a car or pedestrian. Glad nobody got hurt. After such an errant shot, I’d immediately switch to my wedge!

Not the craziest theory I’ve offered up on a webseuths case, but pretty close. All jmo

Prayers for RR and his family

Anything is possible I guess, but this seems very unlikely IMHO also it was very very dark at that time of night.

 

[Rush4087]

Anything is possible I guess, but this seems very unlikely IMHO also it was very very dark at that time of night.

Well, if he wasn’t shot, wasn’t stabbed, and there was some question as to cause of death (with some people saying he may have “flipped” his bike), this sounds very much like a head wound. Most head wounds riding a bike don’t kill you (I know, some do)

Since it doesn’t appear he could’ve gotten the head wound (if that’s what it was) earlier somewhere else and then just been dropped off later (have to stop on a very busy highway and climb over guard railings with body and bike). I guess he and the bike could’ve been staged/dropped of out there very late. It all depends of TOD.

I think whatever happened , happened right there - either another bicycle rider with a weapon, or somebody from the maintenance shed with a weapon, possibly a drive by gang-initiation type shooting (small cal like a .25 acp), or.. an errant 180 mph golf ball.

I guess also some crazy kids driving NE could have thrown a bottle? I think it
is probably something like that - and not some targeted crime by family - or somebody who knew RR. Too nice a guy.

 

[Jon KIng]

It seems like the hill has a steeper slope as you get closest to the bridge. That’s the area LE had blocked off after he was Found from Tuesday-Saturday when it was announced a homicide. So my guess would be that he was in that area where it was steepest and the most difficult to see by a passerby.

not sure where the bike was found. That Tuesday morning they had a tent set up at more of the foot of the overpass bridge. Again a guess that maybe that’s where the bike was found?

I drove by that morning right around 9am just as police were beginning to congregate and had such a sad sinking feeling in my stomach

We have walked that sidewalk many times over the years. The embankment is not too steep nor very far from the trees. So unless he was actually in the trees, you can see everything up to the tree line from the sidewalk.

 

[montana1]

For the local folks, is there any way to cut through the golf maintenance area to get to the park? Maybe not by car if the gate is closed, but would it be possible on foot/bike? That would provide a shortcut to the park - if that was his destination. And would also be more dangerous when dark.

 

[Cle2002]

Well, if he wasn’t shot, wasn’t stabbed, and there was some question as to cause of death (with some people saying he may have “flipped” his bike), this sounds very much like a head wound. Most head wounds riding a bike don’t kill you (I know, some do)

Since it doesn’t appear he could’ve gotten the head wound (if that’s what it was) earlier somewhere else and just been dropped off (have to stop on a very busy highway and climb over guard railings with body and bike). I guess he and the bike could’ve been staged/dropped out there very late. It all depends of TOD.

I think whatever happened right there - either another bicycle rider with a weapon, or somebody from the maintenance shed with a weapon, possibly a drive by gang-initiatin type shooting (small cal like a .25 acp), or.. an errant 180 mph golf ball.

I guess also some crazy kids driving NE could have thrown a bottle? I think it
is probably something like that - and not some targeted crime by family - or somebody who knew RR. Too nice a guy.

Unfortunately we just don’t know what happened. I’ve heard so many different “rumors” about what happened - head trauma, stabbing, body trauma, etc - but obviously only LE and a few others know for sure. Until we get more info, which we might never get the whole story…. Everything is speculation. It’s very frustrating as a parent with young/teen kids and just impossible to imagine how anyone could hurt a child

 

[Jon KIng]

By the way, we live just one house from Central Blvd, about a half mile below where Ryan was found. Just went outside to turn off the Christmas lights. You can hear the traffic on Central. There is a distinct pattern to Central Blvd traffic from PGA all the way through to Hood road. When the traffic light at PGA is red, almost no cars come up Central. When the light changes, a flood of cars comes, depending on time of day. So even at 7 pm, there is a gap in cars of several minutes. And you can see car lights in either direction for a long distance when it is dark. So it is very possible for a passing vehicle to have either put him there even at an relatively early time such as 7-9 pm. Very easy to have 1-2-3 minutes between groups of cars where that area would be absolutely private and dark. Of course these 1-2-3 minutes gaps in traffic would also be an opportunity for a random attack if someone just saw him on his bike, but I think we agree that would be a less likely scenario.

 

[montana1]

We have walked that sidewalk many times over the years. The embankment is not too steep nor very far from the trees. So unless he was actually in the trees, you can see everything up to the tree line from the sidewalk.

If you watch the helicopter video from the day/morning he was found you can see LE walking into the wooded area, not just up to it. So IMO something was in there - either RR or possible evidence.

 

[Jon KIng]

For the local folks, is there any way to cut through the golf maintenance area to get to the park? Maybe not by car if the gate is closed, but would it be possible on foot/bike? That would provide a shortcut to the park - if that was his destination. And would also be more dangerous when dark.

We have walked that area many times. Once they built the soccer fields at the park about 4 years ago, they also put in a wooded walking path. That path winds around right up to the edge of the golf course property. There is a 8 foot cyclone fence though that prevents any access to the golf course from the park property. Behind the golf course there is also a power company access road. But this also is partitioned from the golf course with the 8 foot fence. Besides scaling the fence, I am not aware of any access to the golf course from the park side.

 

[Jon KIng]

If you watch the helicopter video from the day/morning he was found you can see LE walking into the wooded area, not just up to it. So IMO something was in there - either RR or possible evidence.

True, again we just do not know for sure if the passer by found Ryan and the bike or just the bike and police found Ryan later. Also do not know if Ryan was in the woods or outside the tree line on the embankment. None of these details have been totally confirmed. We saw police return to the scene several times with groups of 5-10 people, both uniformed and in suits in the days after he was found. Some were walking fairly far up the sidewalk taking pictures. Others were down the embankment.