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

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When I read that quote "[FONT="]It’s just a fluky thing that happened at a weird time" in the Herald a week ago (before knowing anything else about this case) I immediately thought that is a very strange way to describe the situation. A 'flukey thing'? 'That happened'? past tense? 'at a weird time'?? all the kid was supposed to know was that Michael walked home. that's not flukey nor weird. Sounds more like a teenager describing a specific incident that went tragically wrong. I'd say that the kids at the party better get good lawyers asap.[/FONT]
Thanks for joining us here on Websleuths, tc!

I have to agree. That quote definitely caught my attention when I first came across it. "(J)ust a fluky thing"? I cannot tell from the report when SH was interviewed, but the article was published on Tuesday. Even if the interview took place the day before, Michael had already been missing for well over 24 hours.

As to the "at a weird time" part goes, I have no idea what he meant by that. It is a strange thing to say, IMO.
 
Thanks for joining us here on Websleuths,
I have to agree. That quote definitely caught my attention when I first came across it. "(J)ust a fluky thing"? I cannot tell from the report when SH was interviewed, but the article was published on Tuesday. Even if the interview took place the day before, Michael had already been missing for well over 24 hours.

As to the "at a weird time" part goes, I have no idea what he meant by that. It is a strange thing to say, IMO.
You both brought up good points.
 
Michael's disappearance reminds me a lot of Kurt Sova from so long ago. I hope his family and loved ones don't have to wait so long for answers.
 
Thanks for joining us here on Websleuths, tc!

I have to agree. That quote definitely caught my attention when I first came across it. "(J)ust a fluky thing"? I cannot tell from the report when SH was interviewed, but the article was published on Tuesday. Even if the interview took place the day before, Michael had already been missing for well over 24 hours.

As to the "at a weird time" part goes, I have no idea what he meant by that. It is a strange thing to say, IMO.

My own thoughts on that and then I'll shut up.
I find, through so many cases, that people interviewed during an event like that often say things that, along with their worry and concern, come out as nervous jibber jabber and not at all what they would say otherwise. To analyze it or read some malice into it is unfair IMO. To not see him or hear him and speak further - I lack the data to form an opinion.
Not directed to you just in general and jumping off your post.

Just my :twocents:
 
My own thoughts on that and then I'll shut up.
I find, through so many cases, that people interviewed during an event like that often say things that, along with their worry and concern, come out as nervous jibber jabber and not at all what they would say otherwise. To analyze it or read some malice into it is unfair IMO. To not see him or hear him and speak further - I lack the data to form an opinion.
Not directed to you just in general and jumping off your post.

Just my :twocents:


I have to agree. It was a sound bite - a snippet - of what this young man said. To read anything into it would be unfair, IMHO.

Yet, I am with those here who believe that there is certainly more to this story and hope Michael's parents learn the truth.
 
There's too many odd things for me to write this off as accidental...

If he was being chased why were his shoes not muddy? On opposite sides of the marsh...?

If he was lost and disoriented and traveled through the marsh not once but twice, then he better be muddy from at least the waist down...

If he was lost and started suffering from hypothermia, was it really THAT cold? How long would he have had to have been lost in 42 degree weather to suffer from hypothermia?

If he was seriously lost and honestly suffered from hypothermia, could he have really been even remotely close to a sober level? Probably not.

If he really did leave on his own to walk home, why would he choose to walk through a trail in pitch dark with 0% battery life instead of by the streets light up?

If he really did text his brothers for a ride at 12:30 AM, why did he turn down 3 rides with friends? Why didn't he text / call his brothers again?

All these questions seem to point me back to the party but are a bunch of 20 year olds really smart enough to stage hypothermia? Doubtful.

This kid seemed to be really loved by peers. It's hard for me to imagine that anyone would try to hurt him or cover up an accident by staging things in this way.

So many odd questions. I'm so heart broken for this seemingly wonderful younger man. Just broken.
 
Hey there. For whatever reason, synthetic marijuana is what I keep thinking of. My Mom is a psychiatrist and she has told me stories about people telling her about their experiences with it. Scariest part is you have no idea what is actually in that stuff. If you remember Chandler Jones of the New England Patriots showed up at the Foxboro PD with almost no clothes on, on his knees one morning. Then the Patriots traded him a few weeks later. He was using synthetic weed.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/...ot-overdose/7LW0qko2kU0OphXTTmgtSO/story.html

I think he could have been slipped something, yes. But again, they need to get a hold of phones and text messages, video.

I just asked my highschool boys if they've heard any talk at all of synthetic marijuana in the area and neither had a clue to what I was talking about. They usually hear about things like this hanging around a campfire at friends' houses. A popular thing for kids to do around here is hang out around a blazing campfire in their backyards.....quite a few homes in this area abut a treeline. I'm wondering if maybe they had a fire blazing the night of the party and that's how so many kids were there. The house was located in a perfect spot for a fire and it wasn't really raining that heavy earlier in the night.
 
I have to agree. It was a sound bite - a snippet - of what this young man said. To read anything into it would be unfair, IMHO.

Yet, I am with those here who believe that there is certainly more to this story and hope Michael's parents learn the truth.

I remember hearing the interview and he said something about it happening on Mother's Day, Michael would not miss being home on Mother's Day. That's what I thought he meant by "weird time".

Still a strange thing to say but I just figured he was nervous being interviewed.
 
When I read that quote "[FONT=&quot]It’s just a fluky thing that happened at a weird time" in the Herald a week ago (before knowing anything else about this case) I immediately thought that is a very strange way to describe the situation. A 'flukey thing'? 'That happened'? past tense? 'at a weird time'?? all the kid was supposed to know was that Michael walked home. that's not flukey nor weird. Sounds more like a teenager describing a specific incident that went tragically wrong. I'd say that the kids at the party better get good lawyers asap.[/FONT]

I had similar thoughts! What a strange choice of words.
 
There's too many odd things for me to write this off as accidental...

If he was being chased why were his shoes not muddy? On opposite sides of the marsh...?

If he was lost and disoriented and traveled through the marsh not once but twice, then he better be muddy from at least the waist down...

If he was lost and started suffering from hypothermia, was it really THAT cold? How long would he have had to have been lost in 42 degree weather to suffer from hypothermia?

If he was seriously lost and honestly suffered from hypothermia, could he have really been even remotely close to a sober level? Probably not.

If he really did leave on his own to walk home, why would he choose to walk through a trail in pitch dark with 0% battery life instead of by the streets light up?

If he really did text his brothers for a ride at 12:30 AM, why did he turn down 3 rides with friends? Why didn't he text / call his brothers again?

All these questions seem to point me back to the party but are a bunch of 20 year olds really smart enough to stage hypothermia? Doubtful.

This kid seemed to be really loved by peers. It's hard for me to imagine that anyone would try to hurt him or cover up an accident by staging things in this way.

So many odd questions. I'm so heart broken for this seemingly wonderful younger man. Just broken.

Yes! So many good points! I feel like someone is covering something up. Why would he refuse rides when his brothers didn't answer their phones and why walk in the dark woods with a dead cell phone instead of the street lights? The only logical explanation for the latter, IMO, is if he was on some sort of drug. Some local high-schoolers in Franklin told me that the new thing is to mix xanax with alcohol. It can cause all sorts of odd behavior including the desire to start taking off your clothes. NOT saying he did drugs, I know this is a good kid, but it's always a possibility. And he may not have even known he was taking something.
 
My own thoughts on that and then I'll shut up.
I find, through so many cases, that people interviewed during an event like that often say things that, along with their worry and concern, come out as nervous jibber jabber and not at all what they would say otherwise. To analyze it or read some malice into it is unfair IMO. To not see him or hear him and speak further - I lack the data to form an opinion.
Not directed to you just in general and jumping off your post.

Just my :twocents:

I have to agree. It was a sound bite - a snippet - of what this young man said. To read anything into it would be unfair, IMHO.

Yet, I am with those here who believe that there is certainly more to this story and hope Michael's parents learn the truth.
I broadly agree with what both of you said, and I did not bring this up until today for the exact reason you pointed out.

Based on the information that was available when the article came out a week ago today, I had no reason to suspect foul play in Michael's disappearance (and I am still not sure whether there was anything beyond extreme, excessive drinking involved; in other words, there might have been something reckless -other than the drinking-, or even criminal that took place, but not exactly nefarious, per se).

When I first read the article, the young man's comment definitely jumped out at me for being rather strange (in my opinion), but I brushed it aside, given the fact that according to the article, he had known Michael since childhood and was partying with him right before he disappeared. I figured he was nervous, upset and was in shock. And if I were ever in a similar position, I'm sure I would be all over the place and much more so than this man, in fact.

It's just that with what we now know (e.g., that Michael was found only about 200 yards away from where the party was, while the dogs tracked his scent almost a mile away on the other side of the brook, etc.), I have a slightly different perspective on the young man's comment than I did a couple of days ago.

Having said that, I do think that more likely than not, I'm just reading too much into nothing ;).
 
You would refuse a ride from fellow party goers if u felt they were OUI and it would be unsafe. This would demonstrate good judgement... I can't stop thinking about this case. It didn't "add up" for me since day 1. I truly hope LE is on top of this. So sad and tragic for Michael and his loved ones.
 
Kind of OT but even way back when I was in high school and college, so much drinking went on all the time, as well as some drug use too. And back then, lots of us simply drove ourselves home :(.
But I don't remember ever hearing of any deaths during those years, due to or as a result of partying. There must have been some, of course, and maybe we simply hear more now because every bit of info is out there these days. But it does seem like the drinking and/or drugs are stronger or more are ingested.

Not to say that Michael's death is due to partying. But so many of these tragic deaths happen after leaving bars or parties. It is almost an epidemic. I wonder if the numbers are so much higher these days or it just seems that way.
 
I can't figure out how to upload a picture, but someone posted a map of all the relevant spots. The body is found near the party house in a big random cluster of trees. The trees are not on the path to Michael's house or anywhere that he would be if he were walking home. There are large open areas around the trees. Michael would have no reason to go into a big random cluster of trees near the party house and in the other direction from where he lives AND the other direction from where his shirt and shoes were found. The bloodhounds caught michael's scent on Maple street, which is somewhat far from the party and his house (in the next town). If someone drove to the nearby country club and wanted to park the car to plant Michael's shoe behind the country club (where it was found), that is where they would park. Maple street is the front of the country club in civilization. It is not where someone walking would be lost. If Michael were so lost in the marsh (behind the country club) and he ended up on Maple street (in civilization), he would be out of the marsh and would not end up wondering back into the marsh or go into trees by party house in opposite direction of Michael's home from country club. On the other hand, it is exactly where someone in a car would park if they wanted to bring Michael's shoe to the back of the country club where one of Michael's shoes was, in fact, found. The other spot where Michael's shirt and shoe were found is on other side of stream (opposite bank from country club on side where Michael's home and the party were). Unlikely someone dying of hypothermia would jump accross a steam and take off one shoe on each side. These spots, however are accessible from road leading to Maple where the Bloodhound picked up Michael's scent. Factually, these spots were where someone planting something would have access from the road (not through the swamp) so people would think Michael drowned in the stream (between the shoe spots) and would not locate him in the cluster of trees where his body was found.
 
My heart goes out to the family. So sad. Hope new information is shared by LE on cause of death. It could save future lives, if something really happened that night. Also, No one has speculated timing. If Michael was at each point on the map where shoe/shirt, then 2nd shoe, then back over near party house, how long would that take? Could it have been light out by the time he was over by house?
 
Kind of OT but even way back when I was in high school and college, so much drinking went on all the time, as well as some drug use too. And back then, lots of us simply drove ourselves home :(.
But I don't remember ever hearing of any deaths during those years, due to or as a result of partying. There must have been some, of course, and maybe we simply hear more now because every bit of info is out there these days. But it does seem like the drinking and/or drugs are stronger or more are ingested.

Not to say that Michael's death is due to partying. But so many of these tragic deaths happen after leaving bars or parties. It is almost an epidemic. I wonder if the numbers are so much higher these days or it just seems that way.

I remember many kids in my high school dying from drugs and drinking. Too numerous to count. Guess which high school.
 
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