Found Deceased MA - Michael Doherty, 20, Franklin, 14 May 2017

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FWIW, and this is my very humble opinion only, there are few things worse than children predeceasing their parents. I remember my husband's maternal grandmother stating this after she lost one of her sons to cancer.
 
I believe he was closer to main roads than 495, especially considering two civilians were searching and LE asked the general public to stay away from the area to prevent contamination. I'd also be surprised if civilians were able to make it through that terrain. But who knows?
 
I don't see how his body could be found so close to the party house when his shirt/sneakers/scent were found in the other direction....unless he backtracked somehow....or wasn't found as close to Jimmy St. as we may imagine? Maybe he crossed the water and then went to the left and kept walking toward the 495 ramp and that's where they found him but went through Jimmy St to get to him?
 
JaJo said:
I don't see how his body could be found so close to the party house when his shirt/sneakers/scent were found in the other direction....unless he backtracked somehow....or wasn't found as close to Jimmy St. as we may imagine? Maybe he crossed the water and then went to the left and kept walking toward the 495 ramp and that's where they found him but went through Jimmy St to get to him?
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Since the dogs tracked him to Maple St Bellingham, that coincided with the shirt and shoes, IMO.
It's seeming like he crossed the brook twice and went back to find Phyllis St. and missed it again.

JMO
 
A family member of mine was involved in the search and they worked so hard to find this child. He's probably home sleeping right now after the week he has put in. I'm sure we'll find out all the details of what happened soon enough but being a Mom of teens, I just can't stop thinking about how this could have happened. It keeps playing over and over in my head. I was so hoping and praying he would be returned safely to his family, but I guess just finding him and giving them closure is better than not finding him at all. The younger brother will be graduating high school soon and I think the older brother is graduating Northeastern University soon, too. May God sustain them through their grief.
 
I'm so sorry ! Prayers for his family 🕯

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This is so heartbreaking and yet we see this over and over again.They leave a party or get together and never show back up.Why or why didn't somebody just follow him home,if he didn't want a ride or grab him and take him home anyway.Throwing caution to the wind is not a good answer.We need to look out for each other,even if they don't want us to.
 
I'm so sad at this news, though I had started to accept it was the likely outcome after a couple of days. So scary at how preventable it seems. It sure hits home for me as I live in the area. I honestly can't believe this has happened in this area again, only because there was a similar situation that occurred about 8 or so years ago very close by where a HS girl wandered off from an outdoor party and was found in shallow marsh/swamp water. Mine are this age too, it's worrisome. These kids need to be taught to look out for one another especially if drinking involved. Prayers to his family.
 
This has been a terrible week for our community. My heart breaks for this family. �� RIP Michael.
 
What awful news, I'm so sorry the family had this outcome. I'm guessing he was found between 495 and Jimmy St. The Reporters' tweets about Jimmy St. may be misleading - he could have been found far into the woods, yet Jimmy St. would be the closest street for LE vehicles to congregate. I-495 is a major interstate highway, I doubt they would close it down unless absolutely necessary.

There are so many open questions. If he was in such bad shape to wander off the road in the wrong direction, why did the homeowners let him leave? Why wouldn't he follow the roads instead of setting off across a marsh/woods?
 
I'm thinking he must have been disoriented in the darkness of night and rain but walked toward the lights he may have seen to the left on 495. A flashlight from 495 probably would have been seen in such darkness at that time of the night. He went quite a distance with no shoes on his feet on that rough terrain. Poor kid! :-(
 
This is heartbreaking news. What a nightmare for his parents and family.
I hope investigators can soon determine what happened to Michael.
Given that he was closer to where he went missing and in a different location from the search, I imagine he succumbed quickly that night.
Or, he would have been able to make it to the interstate or a home the next morning with daylight and the noise of traffic.
The fact that he wasn't very far makes me think he was ill or got injured.
I am truly very sorry for this young man.
 
JaJo said:
I'm thinking he must have been disoriented in the darkness of night and rain but walked toward the lights he may have seen to the left on 495. A flashlight from 495 probably would have been seen in such darkness at that time of the night. He went quite a distance with no shoes on his feet on that rough terrain. Poor kid! :-(
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My husband is confident that Michael drowned and that he covered that distance through the water. Probably the only explanation that makes sense given that he wasn't even wearing shoes. Right? (Although I thought LE said that the condition of the shirt and shoes made them think it hadn't been submerged in the mud.) I'm still holding on to the theory of hypothermia. So many questions! I hope they're able to piece it together and make sense of it all. God bless the Doherty family. What a tragedy. They had just gotten him home for the summer, after being away in NC all semester.
 
JaJo said:
I'm thinking he must have been disoriented in the darkness of night and rain but walked toward the lights he may have seen to the left on 495. A flashlight from 495 probably would have been seen in such darkness at that time of the night. He went quite a distance with no shoes on his feet on that rough terrain. Poor kid! :-(
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Perhaps Michael was in the state of shock after leaving the house party...
Did someone upset him at the party, which made him go out alone?
Did somebody say something to him?
 
Inspector Gidget said:
This is so heartbreaking and yet we see this over and over again.They leave a party or get together and never show back up.Why or why didn't somebody just follow him home,if he didn't want a ride or grab him and take him home anyway.Throwing caution to the wind is not a good answer.We need to look out for each other,even if they don't want us to.
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Or since this was a house party, just have him spend the night there. Was the host expecting the homeowner(s) to return in the morning and wanted to get rid of any evidence of the party before they arrived?

How many people were still there when Michael left (these are underage or barely-drinking-age individuals - 1:30 really isn't that late, IMO)? Did any of them try to stop him, or were they under the influence to the point where they didn't really notice?

If this were one of my children, I would want to know exactly what happened.

And how do we stop this from happening over and again?
 
MDlocation.jpg


https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...&ll=42.10003288897434,-71.43539003786623&z=16

http://franklin.wickedlocal.com/news/20170520/body-found-in-franklin-believed-to-be-michael-doherty

<snip>
"Deputy Chief James Mill said searchers had been working every day from 5:30 a.m. to dark - except on certain days when the heat cut the search short - in their efforts to find Doherty.

Mill said it appeared as if Doherty went to Oak Street Extension and crossed over Mine Brook to Bellingham’s Maplegate Country Club, where one of his shoes was found. He said it appeared Doherty then crossed back into Franklin before ending up near Rte. 495.

“It looked like he was trying to fight his way back home,” he said.

Mill, noting that civilian volunteers found the body, praised the efforts of local residents who helped in the search."
 
ArtChick83 said:
My husband is confident that Michael drowned and that he covered that distance through the water. Probably the only explanation that makes sense given that he wasn't even wearing shoes. Right? (Although I thought LE said that the condition of the shirt and shoes made them think it hadn't been submerged in the mud.) I'm still holding on to the theory of hypothermia. So many questions! I hope they're able to piece it together and make sense of it all. God bless the Doherty family. What a tragedy. They had just gotten him home for the summer, after being away in NC all semester.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure where the person who made this map got the info that's where Michael's body was found. It would make sense he covered that distance in water since he had no shoes on but looking at this map, though, not sure where he would have drowned that put him between 495 and Jimmy Street....unless Mine Brook that would put him closer to 495 than Jimmy St.. Police said the civilians who found him were searching in a heavy brush area.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...&ll=42.10003288897434,-71.43539003786623&z=16

I want so badly to ask my family member who was one of the searchers for some details but won't put him on the spot like that. He did say, though, that he wasn't found in water. I would think after the Medical Examiner releases the autopsy report, we'll hear more. I'm just hoping nobody slipped a micky into his drink or did anything stupid like that. My 17 yr old has ADHD and learning disabilities and when he was 14 in the 8th grade, he went out with some classmates who slipped him something in chewing tobacco. He didn't know what hit him! He came home and I knew something was wrong and he kept saying he didn't take anything but some chewing tobacco his "friends" gave him. I bought a drug test and it was positive for THC. My son was really upset and wrote on his FB page, "Do not trust anyone!" Pot is pretty prevalent here among the Middle school kids and it's sad they would stoop so low to drug someone for the fun of it! I should have went to the kids' parents but didn't want to make things worse for my son. I did let the kids know I knew what they did and threatened I would tell their parents and the police if they EVER did anything like that again. He never again went out with them after that anyway. I'm not saying anyone did this to Michael, but you never know. I guess we'll find out soon enough if the police say foul play may have been involved. I hope not, but someone's joke could have turned deadly. My son was a mess and could barely walk. He was so disorented and had no idea what happened to him and why he was feeling the way he was. He thought the chewing tobacco caused him to be so dizzy and nauseous.
 
JaJo said:
I'm not sure where the person who made this map got the info that's where Michael's body was found. It would make sense he covered that distance in water since he had no shoes on but looking at this map, though, not sure where he would have drowned that put him between 495 and Jimmy Street....unless Mine Brook that would put him closer to 495 than Jimmy St.. Police said the civilians who found him were searching in a heavy brush area.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...&ll=42.10003288897434,-71.43539003786623&z=16

I want so badly to ask my family member who was one of the searchers for some details but won't put him on the spot like that. He did say, though, that he wasn't found in water. I would think after the Medical Examiner releases the autopsy report, we'll hear more. I'm just hoping nobody slipped a micky into his drink or did anything stupid like that. My 17 yr old has ADHD and learning disabilities and when he was 14 in the 8th grade, he went out with some classmates who slipped him something in chewing tobacco. He didn't know what hit him! He came home and I knew something was wrong and he kept saying he didn't take anything but some chewing tobacco his "friends" gave him. I bought a drug test and it was positive for THC. My son was really upset and wrote on his FB page, "Do not trust anyone!" Pot is pretty prevalent here among the Middle school kids and it's sad they would stoop so low to drug someone for the fun of it! I should have went to the kids' parents but didn't want to make things worse for my son. I did let the kids know I knew what they did and threatened I would tell their parents and the police if they EVER did anything like that again. He never again went out with them after that anyway. I'm not saying anyone did this to Michael, but you never know. I guess we'll find out soon enough if the police say foul play may have been involved. I hope not, but someone's joke could have turned deadly. My son was a mess and could barely walk. He was so disorented and had no idea what happened to him and why he was feeling the way he was. He thought the chewing tobacco caused him to be so dizzy and nauseous.
Click to expand...

That map came from the story by By Mike Gleason who reported it here:
http://franklin.wickedlocal.com/news/20170520/body-found-in-franklin-believed-to-be-michael-doherty

If you change the map to satellite view you can see that the location pin puts him in the thick woods.

Mike gleason writes foor The Worcester Telegram which is a local paper.

^The original is here - http://www.telegram.com/news/201705...to-be-missing-college-student-michael-doherty
 
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