VA VA - Billy Maxwell, 17, Goochland County, 18 Sept 2010

[KaylynnCouture]

So sad. Rest in peace Billy. :rose:

 

[IWannaKnow]

Well when I was in high school, back before rocks were old - ha ha, alot of the guys liked to go lay down in the road at night to "look at the stars" and wait until a car came along. The point was to wait until the last second to jump up and move out of the way - you know, great test of their burgeoning manhood. :waitasec: Classic game to play after drinking and driving around in circles on the weekends, just the old chicken game on a different level - something stupid to do because there was nothing else to do? Now, I'm not saying that is what happened, but it is the first thing I thought of when I read this. If he was intoxicated and decided to lay down in the road for a minute, then passed out I could easily see him being struck and the vehicle not having any idea what happened, other than a loud "bump". Plus, if he was already laying in the road when he was run over, the vehicle might not have the tell-tale bumper or quarter panel damage you would expect from a typical hit-and-run, especially if it was a taller pickup or SUV. :twocents:

I did read that he had left a party without the friends he came with, and told them he would find another ride. Could he have been walking home and fooling around decided to lay down in the road? Has the party and his house been mapped out? Was the area where he was found between his house and the party? Would that have been a normal route to travel between the two?

I read an article from 9/22 which said the sheriff's office would not label this as "hit-and-run" at this time. That sounds like there is other information.....

http://www.goochlandgazette.com/ind..._teens_death_still_under_investigation/23565/

Goochland Sheriff’s Office spokesman Chad Hatton declined Monday to call the incident a case of hit and run.

“It’s too early in the investigation,” said Hatton. “We are trying to find out exactly what happened.”

Hatton said it does appear a vehicle was involved.

ETA: Here is an article from the UK about a kid doing just what I was trying to explain - from Nov. 2006.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-415409/Teenager-killed-playing-chicken-road.html

A teenager was killed when he was hit by two cars while apparently playing "chicken" in the road, police said today.
Kyle Day, 18, lay down across the middle of Lincoln High Street, close to the Shakespeare public house, in the early hours of this morning.
A black Vauxhall Corsa, driven by an 18-year-old man from Lincoln, clipped the teenager after swerving in an effort to avoid him. But the following vehicle, driven by a 17-year-old girl, ran him over, causing severe injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

 

[Truthful Lies]

Good idea, Iwannaknow...however, I can't see him playing this game all by himself...if it were anything like that, I'm assuming other friends would have been with him...hmm.

 

[IWannaKnow]

Could be Truthful Lies, IDK. I could see a kid doing that by himself, without friends present, just for the adrenaline rush though. I think the UK article I linked to was something similar. A cabbie had nearly struck him earlier in the evening, got out and told him to stop, but he did not.....

Perhaps this instead?? I had not heard about it....

http://www.mynorthwest.com/category...20100913/Have-you-tried-The-Lying-Down-Game?/

Have you tried The Lying Down Game?

An internet craze called 'The lying down game' has caught the imagination of millions.
In the game, people lay down in the oddest locations they can find and snap a picture.
The rules are simple: your hands must be flat against your sides, and toes must be pointing at the ground, and you must be face down.

 

[Belinda]

Wow, people really are bored, aren't they?

 

[IWannaKnow]

Ain't that the truth Belinda! GMAB. Have you looked at some of those photos??? :doh:

But that kind of boredom is what makes kids do stupid things like the chicken game, IMO. That and drinking.

Does anyone know Billy's address? How far is this from his house?

 

[noZme]

In high school, a friend was headed home late at night... speeding on a country road. He hit something in the road, continued home, showed the damage to his car to his dad then called cops to meet him back at the scene to see what he had actually hit. In his mind, it was a pig..... but they found a person. It was determined the guy, a vargant, was drunk & lying or passed out in the road & had been hit multiple times.

Counselors later told him that it was likely a self-defense mechanism that his sunconcious confused what he saw to be a farm animal instead of a person. I can understand that. But, in this case in VA, anyone who may have convinced themselves otherwise has now heard thru media that a person was killed on the highway. Could he simply be afraid to come forward? Can you imagine that burden?

 

[Shutterfly]

I can't find Billy's address but this article makes reference to his address being "miles away" from where he was found.

http://www.nbc12.com/Global/story.asp?S=13186504#

And here's something interesting from the comment section under this article. A poster asks where a certain person's car is, mentions him by name. I have no idea who he is, but I found it odd just the same.

Fell out of a car while intoxicated and horsing around perhaps? I read that the ME called his head injury accidental. Or maybe he fell out of a truck and it's other occupants panicked?

 

[Truthful Lies]

"Investigators give inside look at Goochland teen's death"

http://www.nbc12.com/Global/story.asp?S=13360044

Nothing new really =(

 

[IWannaKnow]

From Truthful Lies link:

Investigators give inside look at Goochland teen's death
By Laura Geller

http://www.nbc12.com/Global/story.asp?S=13360044

In the last couple weeks, the Goochland Sheriff's Office has tracked Billy's whereabouts until about half an hour before he was hit when he was spotted walking on the road. It is that short chunk of time that holds the key to cracking the case.

In our first conversation after the incident, Sheriff James Agnew said there was very little evidence of an actual collision at the site where Billy was found that morning. One of the questions we've heard a number of times is whether Billy was hit or if he was for some reason lying in the middle of the road and was run over.

Investigators think a toxicology report will help them find that answer. It could take several more weeks for that information to come back from the medical examiner's office.

Regardless, according to the medical examiner, Billy's cause of death was a crushing head injury police said he got from a vehicle on this road.

 

[Shutterfly]

I can't tell you that this means anything...or that it does not. Kevin Sullivan, 17, of Spotsylvania Va, was found on Salem Church Road in Fredericksburg on Nov 12th at 10:45pm. He was lying off the road in a drainage ditch, near the intersection of Ross Drive and Salem Church Rd and he had severe head trauma, several broken ribs, a punctured lung and other injuries. There is no mention of injuries to lower extremities in either case, which I found odd if being 'car hit' is being considered in either case. This poor boy (Kevin) hung on to life, in a coma, for days. He died yesterday. There is apparently no evidence to support that he was hit by a car. The last time each of these boys were seen, it was just before each claimed to be getting a ride home...in both instances no one knows who that ride was with. Articles I've read say that there was no broken glass, no vehicle parts, no sign of impact and no paint transfer at the site where Kevin was found. The drainage ditch is about 12 feet from the northbound lane. One county separates Goochland (Powhatan), where Billy was found, and Spotsylvania where Kevin was found.

Coincidence? Perhaps. The article below links you back to the original backstory about Kevin.

http://fredericksburg.com/News/Web/2010/112010/kevin_sullivan

 

[Truthful Lies]

Wow. Thank you, Shutterfly. I'm out of town, but as soon as I have a chance, I'll be back to discuss.

 

[OkieGranny]

From September 2013:

http://www.wlox.com/story/23457946/maxwell-case-cold-not-closed-on-three-year-anniversary

"Cold, but not closed" is how the Goochland sheriff describes Billy Lee Maxwell's case...

The tips have been a series of disappointments. "I get excited because I'm hoping it'll be something that'll lead to answers and then, of course, when it doesn't it's a downfall," Maxwell explained.

So she still works to get more tips. She hands out fliers and bumper stickers in the hopes someone can tell her who's responsible for her son's mysterious death.

 

[JLouEllen90]

Sep18 2010: Goochland Virginia Deputies receive a call at 3:00 am about a body in the middle of Route 250. Responding units find Billy Lee Maxwell, 17, lying in the middle of the road. He has been run over by an unknown automobile. Just prior to the call, a witness sees Maxwell walking west in the middle of Rt. 250. He is thumbing for a ride. Despite an extensive investigation, deputies are unable to find the driver of the vehicle that hit Maxwell. The case remains open.

 

[Kroni]

There is still no resolution in this case. 12 year anniversary date coming up and still no answers for our family. This is a small town and is very rural. Happened in early hours of the morning. He had a ride home and the driver decided they couldn't take him home at the last minute and made him get out of the car. That's why he was walking home. No way he lay down in the middle of the road. He had just called his home and left a message he needed a ride. Unfortunately family were sleeping and did not hear it.

Someone knows what happened and we've been waiting years for them to talk. There is more to this story and I pray my family gets the answers of who did this. The perpetrator left him severly injured in the road to die. Justice for Billy!!!!

 

[Beccalicious]

Bumping for Billy