MD - Body Allegedly Found In Well Amid House Fire Investigation, Leonardtown, 2 Aug 2024

[Slamalam]

Leonardtown, Maryland, USA. Curious to see how this one develops and wondering if it will make national news…

(Local news source)

Breaking News: Body Allegedly Found In Well Amid House Fire Investigation - The BayNet

UPDATE – 8/5/2024 – Body Of Callaway Man Found In Well, Investigation Ongoing LEONARDTOWN, Md. – In the early hours of August 2, 2024, at approximately 12:22 a.m., fire and rescue personnel were dispatched to a structure fire on Point Lookout Road near Lightfoot Way. The incident was initially...

thebaynet.com

“In a developing turn of events, a tip has led to speculation that a body was found 55 feet down at the bottom of a well on the same property as the house fire. ATF agents, along with firefighters and emergency personnel, are currently on the scene, thoroughly investigating the situation.”

 

[Slamalam]

Update- local news source.

“The Maryland State Police and the Office of the Maryland State Fire Marshal are actively investigating a house fire, a missing person report, and a body found in a well at a residence that caught fire on Friday, August 2, 2024….

Firefighters from Second District, Leonardtown, Hollywood, NAS Patuxent River, and Potomac Heights responded to the scene to recover the body from the well, which was approximately 40 to 50 feet deep.

Crews worked on the scene for over six hours, making multiple attempts to recover the body from the well without success. The recovery was called off around 3:00 a.m. due to concerns about the structural integrity of the well.
…
The body was recovered in the afternoon.”

UPDATE: State Police and Fire Marshal Investigate House Fire, Missing Person, and Body Found in Well

UPDATE 8/4/2024: The Maryland State Police, Office of the Maryland State Fire Marshal are actively investigating the cause of the house fire, a missing person report, and body found in a well at the residence which caught fire on Friday, August 2nd, 2024.

smnewsnet.com

 

[Slamalam]

Victim has been identified as Joseph Andrew Murrin

A missing man's house caught fire then his body was discovered 30 ft deep in a well

A man's body was discovered 30 ft deep at the bottom of a well adjacent to his home on Saturday in Callaway, Maryland, Maryland State Police say.

www.wmar2news.com

 

[tlcya]

Joseph Andrew Murrin, 53, was reported missing by his family on August 2 after a fire at his home.

On August 3, family members located Murrin 30 ft deep at the bottom of the well.
A missing man's house caught fire then his body was discovered 30 ft deep in a well

So am I understanding the sequence of events here?

1. On 8-2-24 a fire happens at his residence, it is reported by a neighbor, and investigated as suspicious in nature.
2. Joseph is not found at the residence during the fire and family subsequently reports he is missing, also on 8-2-24.
3. On 8-3-24 family member(s) find what may be his body 30 feet down a well that is either next to his property or on his property.
4. Body is subsequently officially identified as the missing man.

I have several questions:

was the well on his property or "adjacent" to his property? If not his then whose?
did his family members know about the well? because how did they come to find him at the bottom of a well? Did one of them go down or were they somehow able to illuminate the well enough to see him down there?

very unusual case.

 

[tlcya]

no updates on this unusual case

 

[NervousNellie]

I also have those same, excellent questions, @tlcya !

 

[ghostrighter]

Update from August 8. Family found Joseph in the well when they were searching for him.

Death investigation underway in St. Mary's

Troopers from the Maryland State Police are investigating the death of a Callaway man whose body was discovered at the bottom of a well outside of his residence on Aug.

www.somdnews.com

 

[tlcya]

Update from August 8. Family found Joseph in the well when they were searching for him.

Death investigation underway in St. Mary's

Troopers from the Maryland State Police are investigating the death of a Callaway man whose body was discovered at the bottom of a well outside of his residence on Aug.

www.somdnews.com

so they've confirmed that unnamed family members located him in the well, but not much else.

Still leaves me wondering, did the family know the well was there? Was it covered? and who thought "let's check the well"? and how did were they able to visually see him down the 30 foot well? Or did someone have to be lowered down and which allowed them to make the grim discovery?

 

[tlcya]

it's been two weeks. no updates. I'm super curious about this one. I wonder if the well is located "adjacent" to the general vicinity of where the fire was located. Could he have tried to escape the fire from an upper floor and then fell into the well? a sort of out of the fire into the well kindof thing?

 

[tlcya]

it's looking like we may never hear how Mr. Murrin came to be in the bottom of that well. RIP sir.

 

[slowpoke]

Did he jump in there for the water because his body was on fire from the house fire?
Or is that a dumb thought.

(I don’t know much about wells, so am assuming there’d be some water in it.)

JMO

 

[STLBlues]

Did he jump in there for the water because his body was on fire from the house fire?
Or is that a dumb thought.

(I don’t know much about wells, so am assuming there’d be some water in it.)

JMO

You would assume, if the well is on his property (which we're not sure about as it's been stated as both on his property and on an adjacent property) he would know at least the approximate depth of the well (we've heard 55 feet and 30 feet deep). I can't imagine jumping/dropping myself into a well of known depth, much less one of unknown depth. But, then again, if his clothing were on fire who knows what someone might do.

 

[vls12345]

Would a water well on personal property have a ladder or some type of access he could have used? Could he have climbed in that way to escape the fire but was somehow injured & wasn't found in time? Or is this a murder?

Very curious that there are no updates.

MOO.

 

[vls12345]

I started to poke around to find anything extra I could find out about this case.

Here's the MD State Police press release about it:

Death Investigation Continues In St. Mary’s County

news.maryland.gov

Here's an article with a photo of the house:

Death investigation underway in St. Mary's

Troopers from the Maryland State Police are investigating the death of a Callaway man whose body was discovered at the bottom of a well outside of his residence on Aug.

www.somdnews.com

The press release mentioned Leonardtown ("On Aug. 2, 2024, Murrin’s family reported him missing to the Maryland State Police Leonardtown Barrack after a reported fire at his residence. Police, firefighters and family members conducted a search of his home and surrounding areas.") & I found fire scanner records online here:

Audio Library - ScanMD

There is a scanner recording (which I have not listened to in full yet) re: a working house fire in Leonardtown, MD on 02 August 2024. Listening to the audio for that particular fire (Audio Library - ScanMD), around minute one, the address given is 21944 Point Lookout Rd. Looking up that address on Google street view gives a photo of the same house in the news article:

Street View of 21944 Point Lookout Rd · Google Maps

21944 Point Lookout Rd, Leonardtown, MD 20650

maps.app.goo.gl

Once I found the address, I looked up the property. Redfin has some photos from when the property was last sold in 2022. It does indeed list that the property uses well water. I tried to look at the outdoor photos to see the well on the property.

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Leonardtown/21944-Point-Lookout-Rd-20650/home/15325341

Do you think the area I circled in red might be the well?


Also, here was an article that must have been the day of the fire before Mr. Murrin was reported missing/found in the well on the property.

Leonardtown House Fire Causes $100K in Damage; No Injuries Reported - The Southern Maryland Chronicle

In the early hours of Thursday, a fire severely damaged a single-family home in Leonardtown, St. Mary’s County, Maryland. Authorities reported no injuries, but the blaze has prompted an investigation into its origins and a call for information from the public. The incident, which occurred at...

southernmarylandchronicle.com

To me, some of the statements in the article seem odd...?

According to official reports, the fire was discovered by a neighbor and primarily affected the back porch of the residence owned by Joseph Murrin. Despite the efforts of approximately 60 firefighters, the home suffered estimated losses amounting to $100,000.

Officials indicated that the fire was controlled within 20 minutes of the firefighters’ arrival.

Considering the audio recording has the fire call just after midnight & this article was written the same day, it seems odd to me that they are already saying $100k damages (since the homeowner was obviously not around to be pursuing that info), 60 firefighters, fire controlled within 20 minutes, mostly affected the back porch -- just seems like a lot of info in a very short time considering the homeowner could not weigh in.

It just all seems curious. MOO.