Found Deceased NC - Weston Vandermerwe, 23, Raleigh, 9 Aug 2013

[masootz]

Spreading the word at my office. Lots of younger folks here who live on that side of town.

someone told me they just started a volunteer search at the corner of lenoir st and fayetteville st next to the marriott hotel.

 

[prospektor]

Kind of sad that his friends left him, lying down drunk on the side of the road.

From my understanding, it was an unrelated group of people who didn't know him.

 

[masootz]

From my understanding, it was an unrelated group of people who didn't know him.

exactly. from the newsobserver article it sounds like they offered him help but he refused.

 

[chris24]

I pulled it up on Google satellite. Like someone said, it is smack dab center city. There are no bodies of water that I can see that would be 'walkable' from that area. Raleigh is also a relatively safe city downtown - or it used to be - so I can't really see someone just randomly grabbing him off the side of the street. I think I would be checking alleys in case he had an accident, or I would be looking at storefront cameras to see if, when, or how he walked away from the bar. There should be plenty of video around there.

Girlfriend's story doesn't seem sketchy for now, but we all know how that can change with a quickness.

First thing I did was google map Raleigh. No major bodies of water nearby. But I remember later last year there was a boy who was found that had supposedly hopped a fence and ended up in some kind of retaining pond. So anything is possible.

 

[chris24]

Kind of sad that his friends left him, lying down drunk on the side of the road.

True...but when I've been out drinking in the past I've had drunk friends who yell at us to leave them alone or they run off. He could've forced them to leave? If it was me I might've went and hid around the corner and waited for him to get up.

If he was last seen lying in the street, maybe someone hit him and did something with his body? Or a John Doe somewhere in a hospital.

 

[KivaSupporter]

Vandemerwe’s cell phone died earlier Friday night, friends said, and there has been no credit card activity since he went missing.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/08/12/3102595/family-friends-worry-about-man.html#storylink=cpy

 

[KivaSupporter]

The family of an Apex man missing since Friday night focused their search near the Raleigh Convention Center Tuesday, after two Shaw University students provided a clue to his whereabouts.

Vandemerwe's mother, Becky Daly, said the Shaw students told her they saw him lying on the ground outside the convention center early Saturday, and they even took a picture of him. When they offered to help him, the students told Daly, he declined.

http://www.wral.com/apex-man-reported-missing/12770417/

 

[ArianeEmory]

The family of an Apex man missing since Friday night focused their search near the Raleigh Convention Center Tuesday, after two Shaw University students provided a clue to his whereabouts.

Vandemerwe's mother, Becky Daly, said the Shaw students told her they saw him lying on the ground outside the convention center early Saturday, and they even took a picture of him. When they offered to help him, the students told Daly, he declined.

http://www.wral.com/apex-man-reported-missing/12770417/

*side-eye*

 

[zelmajane]

So we've had folks say it is "safe" downtown.

I commented last night (to friends, while downtown) that it amazes me one place you see this guy who is doing crazy dancing motions while crossing the road. Obvious mental impairment. Then less than 60 feet folks sitting in front of a bar drinking $12 beer.

There is a large homeless population downtown. There are a lot of drugs downtown. I would not walk alone downtown, and I don't think anyone else should.

 

[KivaSupporter]

So we've had folks say it is "safe" downtown.

I commented last night (to friends, while downtown) that it amazes me one place you see this guy who is doing crazy dancing motions while crossing the road. Obvious mental impairment. Then less than 60 feet folks sitting in front of a bar drinking $12 beer.

There is a large homeless population downtown. There are a lot of drugs downtown. I would not walk alone downtown, and I don't think anyone else should.

I completely agree.

 

[SyraKelly]

This case sounds just like Jacob Lipp's

both went missing after arguing with their g/f and being left behind after leaving a bar

I bumped Jacob's thread if anyone is interested in looking at it!

 

[CluelessWonder]

This case sounds just like Jacob Lipp's

both went missing after arguing with their g/f and being left behind after leaving a bar

I bumped Jacob's thread if anyone is interested in looking at it!

There a LOT of cases similar to this one. Often, there is an argument, and they often occur because someone is really tanked.

 

[zelmajane]

Yellow star is where he left the Oxford
Red star is where the Shaw student's saw him and allegedly took his picture and offered assistance.
Blue star is where all the homeless folks live.

 

[prospektor]

There a LOT of cases similar to this one. Often, there is an argument, and they often occur because someone is really tanked.

Yup, and drunk people rarely realize how vulnerable they are.

 

[masootz]

there was a concert last night (the killers) at the amphitheater which is to the left of the red star in the map. most of the people park at the deck below the red star. i point this out because if he were lying somewhere in that area it's unlikely that 6000 concert-goers would have missed him yesterday.

 

[Kaliste]

The family of an Apex man missing since Friday night focused their search near the Raleigh Convention Center Tuesday, after two Shaw University students provided a clue to his whereabouts.

Vandemerwe's mother, Becky Daly, said the Shaw students told her they saw him lying on the ground outside the convention center early Saturday, and they even took a picture of him. When they offered to help him, the students told Daly, he declined.

http://www.wral.com/apex-man-reported-missing/12770417/

They took a picture of him?! What? Why? Because people lying on the ground in obvious distress are hilarious? Ugh, this makes me so angry. FYI, if someone needs but refuses help CALL THE POLICE, don't snap pics and walk away. Wow. Just wow.

 

[zelmajane]

These guys were from Shaw, which is a historically black university.

I mean no harm in what I'm about to say.

I am a white girl. I have worked with large black bouncers for years and large white ones too. The bar I worked at (not in Raleigh) is 99% white people. These black guys always think it is hilarious how drunk white people get. There is actually a term for it called "white boy wasted." You can google it if you like.

I am not shocked that anyone would take pictures of the preppy white kid passed out. Is it terrible? Yes. May it provide a lot of evidence? Yes.

Also, someone on WRAL just commented- What about cameras? Does anyone know if the convention center has cameras?

 

[ArianeEmory]

I wonder if they tweeted the picture of him?

 

[zelmajane]

I wonder if they tweeted the picture of him?

Just searched Twitter for #whiteboywasted, didn't come up with much.

How does one search Instagram?

 

[FlyerFan28]

I wonder if they tweeted the picture of him?

I just did a quick search of #Whiteboywasted and didn't see anything.