VT - Austin Colson, 19, Royalton, 11 Jan 2018

[TheCrankyChef]

Clickable link: Grieving father continues to search for answers

Thanks! Apparently I 'm "New Forum" challenged.

 

[TheCrankyChef]

Steelslady, do you know if this ya-hoo has ankle jewelry? I haven't seen anything in MSM and *I* think LE would want to know where he's at all times. With his search on how to get rid of GSR and the gun charges he has pending it gives a good idea on how Austin may have died.

 

[Steelslady]

Steelslady, do you know if this ya-hoo has ankle jewelry? I haven't seen anything in MSM and *I* think LE would want to know where he's at all times. With his search on how to get rid of GSR and the gun charges he has pending it gives a good idea on how Austin may have died.

To my knowledge, he is not wearing one. I could be wrong, but my hubby and I were wondering the same thing a few days ago, and I tried to find an article to see if it mentioned him having one. I didn't find anything, sorry.

 

[Steelslady]

Also, I am so surprised that he hasn't been arrested yet. I wouldn't doubt it if they have someone keeping track of his whereabouts at all times. They haven't released the COD yet, which has me curious. Wouldn't they know by now if he was killed by a bullet or multiple bullets?

 

[Steelslady]

No new information, but the mother alludes to the fact that even though they suspect RW as the murderer, that there still could be someone else involved. Police are asking people to call with any information they have Autopsy results aren't back yet:
Mystery surrounds the death of Royalton teen

 

[Moggie73]

No new information, but the mother alludes to the fact that even though they suspect RW as the murderer, that there still could be someone else involved. Police are asking people to call with any information they have Autopsy results aren't back yet:
Mystery surrounds the death of Royalton teen

Not to be rude BUT the mother is not mentally stable, she is friends with Rich Whitcomb and his wife Sara... take EVERYTHING she says with at least a grain of salt.

 

[Moggie73]

To my knowledge, he is not wearing one. I could be wrong, but my hubby and I were wondering the same thing a few days ago, and I tried to find an article to see if it mentioned him having one. I didn't find anything, sorry.

Rich has an ankle bracelet, my understanding is it monitors his sweat for drugs and alcohol as well as his GPS location.

 

[Steelslady]

Rich has an ankle bracelet, my understanding is it monitors his sweat for drugs and alcohol as well as his GPS location.

Thanks, much appreciated about the information on the ankle bracelet.

As far as Austin's Mom goes- I got to sit on my hands on this one, but let's just say, I'm not doubting you.

 

[cybervampira]

Autopsy: Austin Colson shot in the head

A teen whose body was found in a Vermont barn after he had been missing for months was shot in the head. Austin Colson's death certificate lists him as a homicide victim.

 

[TheCrankyChef]

Not a surprise - I hope that LE have their I's dotted and T's crossed.

 

[folieadeuxnola]

Autopsy: Austin Colson Was Shot in the Head, Death Ruled a Homicide

The 19-year-old Royalton man whose body was found off Beaver Meadow Road in Norwich last month after he mysteriously disappeared in January was shot to death, according to his death certificate.

Austin Colson died after suffering “gunshot wounds (to the) head” and was shot by another person, according to the death certificate released on Monday.

His death was classified as a homicide by Dr. Elizabeth A. Bundock, Vermont’s chief deputy medical examiner.

Colson’s remains were found at the Norwich property after investigators searched an large dilapidated barn at 714 Beaver Meadow Road, according to Vermont State Police. Meanwhile, the death certificate put his place of death as “woods (place found),” and the date of death as January 2018.

It was unclear why there were inconsistent references for where the body was found.

 

[Steelslady]

Doesn't surprise me the result of the autopsy. We knew that was coming. Now, when is he going to be arrested?

 

[Kankan]

Doesn't surprise me the result of the autopsy. We knew that was coming. Now, when is he going to be arrested?

I agree. The more cases I follow the more convinced I become that I could never do that line of work. I would probably turn Dexter pretty quickly. Let’s get this ball rolling.

 

[VennDiagram]

I grew up across the river from Norwich, VT. It's a pretty quiet, peaceful place from my experience. I was shocked to hear a body turned up there, and also surprised that someone would choose a barn and not somewhere in the remote woods to hide someone. Perhaps he was planning on coming back when the snow was gone. However, it doesn't seem like the suspect is making any "smart" decisions...

 

[VennDiagram]

Here's a screenshot from street view of what appears to be the barn in the photographs of LE. It must have been the first place they looked when arriving at the property.

 

[Steelslady]

Here's a screenshot from street view of what appears to be the barn in the photographs of LE. It must have been the first place they looked when arriving at the property.

I know that in an article, Austin's father said that Rich had worked the land around there in the past- I'm not sure if he meant on that property or around it.

Didn't LE say that they didn't check the barn because it was in bad shape and dangerous? As you mentioned, the suspect isn't that smart. I'm just glad Austin has been found. Poor kid, way too young to die.

 

[VennDiagram]

I know that in an article, Austin's father said that Rich had worked the land around there in the past- I'm not sure if he meant on that property or around it.

Didn't LE say that they didn't check the barn because it was in bad shape and dangerous? As you mentioned, the suspect isn't that smart. I'm just glad Austin has been found. Poor kid, way too young to die.

It certainly is a shame and a tragedy. If I remember correctly this property isn't even really that "out there" as far as places in Norwich can be. It's fairly close to Norwich's Main Street. Someone earlier on in the thread mentioned a house in Norwich that Rich landscaped for, the owners were snowbirds so they weren't in the state when he would have come. It seems likely to me that this is that property. I hope they get this guy soon.

 

[Steelslady]

It certainly is a shame and a tragedy. If I remember correctly this property isn't even really that "out there" as far as places in Norwich can be. It's fairly close to Norwich's Main Street. Someone earlier on in the thread mentioned a house in Norwich that Rich landscaped for, the owners were snowbirds so they weren't in the state when he would have come. It seems likely to me that this is that property. I hope they get this guy soon.

You know what is absolutely exasperating to me, living in NH, to which I am a couple of hours away from several missing people, including where Austin disappeared before he was found? Is that our media is too focused sometimes on the wrong things.

For instance, we know Tom Brady doesn't eat nightshade vegetables and uses Himalayan salt. We get non-stop political crap and stupid arguments and battles on both sides of the coin.

Yet missing people- a couple of days here or there, then nothing. No reporters digging for clues or into suspects pasts. LE doesn't give many statements or press conferences. Even social media is much more quieter in our area- why? why is this? WHY do we not help out families more of these missing people? There was a dedicated group that went out searching for Austin every week, but it wasn't a huge group- there should have been many more helping out! The girlfriend and her mother tried hard every week to get the word out about the searches.

I know LE worked on Austin's case, they obviously did a great job narrowing down the location, but I wonder why it took them this long to look in that barn? I realize it didn't look safe, but it should have been ruled out. How long was it before they decided to look in there? I think they searched that area before when he first went missing.

I really think though our area needs to get on the horn with our local news and media outlets. This is outrageous that we are not helping to look for these missing people, that the families of the missing people don't get barely any support, except for their loved ones, friends, co-workers, and friends of friends.

I just saw that a 26 year old man is missing from Brunswick Maine- my family comes from that area. I'll just bet he'll be another one to get snubbed for news because we need to know what Zdeno Chara's diet is during the summer months and we all need to get pissed off by whatever comedienne says something not so nice about someone, so it's time for another boycott. I wish people threw their passion and energy towards trying to help others, whether it's missing people, feeding the homeless or families who have no food in their fridges and cabinets, etc.


Sorry for my little rant.

 

[Steelslady]

Affidavits Reveal More Details in Austin Colson Investigation

However, cellphone data and a witness contradict Whitcomb’s account, according to the affidavits obtained from Windsor Superior Court in White River Junction:

— Data retrieved from Whitcomb’s cellphone show that on Jan. 11 he was near where authorities ultimately found Colson’s remains, as well as where police found a trailer the two men were to have used to haul scrap metal.

While Whitcomb, 38, told police he traveled to Manchester on Jan. 11, cellphone data show he stayed in the Upper Valley throughout the day.

— The person Whitcomb claims accompanied him to Manchester, Mark Ruppel, of Lebanon, denies making the trip and told police that Whitcomb asked him to lie about their whereabouts that day.

 

[Steelslady]

Affidavits Reveal More Details in Austin Colson Investigation
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More from the article, which stood out to me. I am ticked off- I remember his wife fighting with everyone on the Vermont State Police page, saying that Rich was home all day on the couch with the flu, and that she took care of him. Of course, she deleted her comments. Now we know why:

The affidavits also include text message exchanges between Whitcomb and his wife, Sara, in which she questioned her husband about Colson’s whereabouts four days after he went missing.

“Tell me the truth rich. It’s all gonna come out,” Sara Whitcomb texted on Jan. 15.

“It’s all crap. I am telling you the truth,” Whitcomb replied.

After the couple went back and forth about Whitcomb’s whereabouts on the day in question, Sara Whitcomb told her husband that his version of events was “not adding up.”

“I wanna know what happened to Austin. You are the last person to talk to him,” Sara Whitcomb texted.

He replied: “No, his girlfriend was the last. I saw him Monday.”

“You texted him Thursday,” Sara Whitcomb replied. “And then he vanished.”