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

[HRP]

<mod snip>

Michael was bright, athletic, and an engineer student. Any parent would be proud to call him their child. Perhaps he didn't make all those unexplainable mistakes (being blamed on booze or drugs). Perhaps he made the correct turns into the woods, crossing the wet area, crossing the brook (only once), to get from Maple Street into Franklin.

He was a fan of that survivalist show I mentioned earlier.

Has anyone charted his course FROM a potential drop off at Maple Street, crossing the brook, then ending up at the party house? Have the cars been checked to see if he was in them and let out at Maple Street?

It was said that it was a "nightmare" out there "in the dark"--said by one of the friends at the party. How did they know this specifically on that night?

--And to the person providing the correct address for the party, thank you. Thanks to others as well...thank you.

 

[HRP]

here's another weird thing about this case. He supposedly left party at 1:30am. and it starts getting light before 5am. its only 3.5hrs of complete darkness. not that long. Also, he was found 200yds from the party house. and there's houses all along the marsh... so if he had been getting desperate... wouldn't he have been screaming/yelling? I realize its the middle of the night but with such a densely populated neighborhood right there, it would be possible for someone to hear him. especially someone from the party. and furthermore, I-495 is only a couple hundred yards away and its raised up over the wetlands, he could easily hear trucks and perhaps see headlights. and looking the other way, wouldn't he see house lights? I'm just surprised, that unless he OD'd, that this was the sad result.

Odd this (not your post, the time). 1:30AM he left the party. But at 1:08AM was the last ping (from the marsh area it is reported). They did a one-mile circle around the estimated ping location (given at 1:08AM) which was from the marsh area.

Also, to bring back the prank or dare (gone wrong)--why did one of the party goers say that he kept looking for him in a certain location to see if he was there and he did it 8 times. Was Michael supposed to show up at a specific area but never made it?

Edited to add article excerpt with link:

&#8220;He walked in the door and everyone freaked out,&#8221; he said of Doherty, a Xaverian Brothers High School grad and junior at Duke University.
He described Doherty as an intelligent college kid who always played by the rules. He said Doherty wasn&#8217;t the type to stay away from home on Mother&#8217;s Day.
Hanley and his friends began searching around 10:30 a.m. Sunday once they learned that Doherty never made it home.
&#8220;I checked the same spot eight times just thinking he was going to be there,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This is the weirdest thing.&#8221;

http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20170515/franklin-search-comes-up-empty

 

[msphilosopher]

HRP - You bring a unique theory to the table and fresh insight!

I don't believe anyone here has considered the possibility that Michael was traveling from Maple street through the marsh to get back to the party. Your theory is backed with reasonable logic and it doesn't hurt to have all possibilities on the table. Nice job! Let's discuss.

One reason I can think that this may not be the case is because of things, 1) The Text 2) The ping

The 12:30 AM text for a ride from his brothers, indicates IMO that Michael was ready to leave the party at this time. I think because of the nature of the text and at the time of the text leaves very little wriggle room for Michael to have changed his mind and suddenly want to play survivor in the woods.

IF this did happen, this would have been a very quick change of heart because the 1:08 AM ping was near the entrance of the trailer (assuming ping data is accurate which it may not be) would mean that from 12:30 AM, Michael would have decided to go, get dropped off, travel through the marsh and be heading out near the trailer entrance back to the party by 1:08 AM, less than 40 minutes later.

Now if that were true that he was capable of making it back to that area by 1:08 AM, then he probably was not heavily intoxicated or disoriented so how could he have not made it a couple blocks back to the house at this point from 1:08 AM?

The devils advocate to my explanation above could be that maybe Michael expressed interest in leaving at 12:30 AM and someone did offer him a ride and then the ride took him to Maple street as a prank and said "Okay, Mr. Survivalist, make it back to the house party" so it was technically not Michael's choice but was tricked and decided to take up the challenge and WAS heavily intoxicated thus resulting in a tragic ending.

Although, I have a hard time believing that these kids who genuinely did not want to hurt him but simply pranking would hide this information. They could simply say "we dared / pranked him and when he didn't show up we assumed he decided to go home instead" or tell LE where he was dropped off in attempts to help the search... doesn't add up if this was sincerely a prank gone wrong.

I think it's more likely that Michael wanted to leave at 12:30 AM, waited 25-30 minutes for his brothers to respond. And decided to head out close to 1 AM and that's why his phone was pinged at 1:08 AM at the entrance. And it's possible that his friends did say that they would give him a ride later when they were going to leave but Michael declined because he didn't want to wait. I think his friends getting the time 1:30 AM vs. 1:00 AM mixed up of his departure is a simply and honest mistake to make especially if the night was a little fuzzy from drinking.

However, I still believe there are very odd things going on.... like that one guy knew the trail was bad and that the other guy checked for him in one specific spot 8 times. Very odd.

I still think there's more to the story than what we know.

All JMO!

 

[happyperson]

IMHO
a) he was coherent - very unlikely unless foul play was involved, which i do not think it was. even if an accident (at party) or foul play it makes no sense to scatter clothing in the area found, and leave the body where it was found
b) he was not coherent - most likely the case - the kid who said MD was coherent was most likely engaging in the party themselves, therefore not a reliable witness. He probably had no idea how impaired MD was, and was downplaying everyones "drunkenness" due to fear of consequences.

I think unfortunately it was a terrible accident. Probably was so impaired he wandered around the path, marsh, and woods until he just passed out. I think it was likely a coincidence he was found so close to the party house. If you look at the maps he never crossed a road. When he got to the country club he likely realized he was not where he wanted to be so turned around, encircling somewhere back to the starting point. This probably took a couple of hours before he was exhausted and passed out. ETOH and 40s temps recipe for disaster, add in the rain which accelerates hypothermia.

Im not sure there is an answer to why with the scattered clothing. Sometimes there is no rationale which someone is intoxicated. Maybe one shoe fell off if he tripped over a root or rock, kicked the other one off later to compensate.

Not victim bashing at all either. This could happen to anyone, especially college age kids. So sad. RIP.

 

[ArtChick83]

With a quick address search and Michael's FB friends list it was pretty easy to figure out which friend threw the party on Phyllis Lane. I'm wondering why we haven't heard anything from him or about him. The silence is quite sketchy to me but maybe I'm just looking for reasons to be skeptical.

Also, I feel like it's worth mentioning that just because Michael "liked" (gave thumbs up) to a survivor show on Facebook doesn't mean it was his favorite show or that he even watched it a lot. I have several shows in my "likes" that I haven't watched in years.

And for those of you who haven't seen Impractical Jokers - it's more about public embarrassment and putting the main characters through silly and awkward interactions with random people. It's not like Fear factor or an "I dare you to go into the pitch-black forest and find your way home" kind of show. There is nothing dangerous about the things they do on the show and rarely involve them doing things by themselves. It seems very different to me.

Michael's funeral was this morning. Too bad it was so rainy and cold here .

 

[tc1236]

after looking at the goolge earth map again, I just don't see how anyone, let alone a 20 y/o athletic engineer, would get lost in that area b/t 495, the golf course and the neighborhood. its only 500 yds from the Phylis Lane to 495 (unless you are on some serious drugs/alcohol combo). you would literally hear and see the trucks on 495 (the highway is raised up over the wetlands). So at a minimum, there's no way MD left the party 'coherent'. Secondly, I'm really surprised it took 6 days to find him 200yds from the house. Look at all those houses in the Phylis Ln area. Lots of people in addition to LE were out there day after day. And there were quotes from people on Jimmy St about how they were out looking for him. Not saying its impossible but for all those people not to find him for six days in the area the size of a golf course seems a bit odd. but I admit I have no experience in searching. All that said, if we knew MD's condition (i.e. did he appear to be walking for hours barefoot through a marsh) and the toxicology report, it would go a long way in narrowing down possibilities. Also, I'd be interested to know if his phone was found with him (I thought it odd SH knew and offered the status of MD's phone battery).

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

please be careful not to list anyone's name on this thread who has not been identified in MSM. Many reasons why, but please please be careful. These are kids.

 

[ArtChick83]

Sorry, just edited my post. Thanks for the reminder. New here

 

[ArtChick83]

after looking at the goolge earth map again, I just don't see how anyone, let alone a 20 y/o athletic engineer, would get lost in that area b/t 495, the golf course and the neighborhood. its only 500 yds from the Phylis Lane to 495 (unless you are on some serious drugs/alcohol combo). you would literally hear and see the trucks on 495 (the highway is raised up over the wetlands). So at a minimum, there's no way MD left the party 'coherent'. Secondly, I'm really surprised it took 6 days to find him 200yds from the house. Look at all those houses in the Phylis Ln area. Lots of people in addition to LE were out there day after day. And there were quotes from people on Jimmy St about how they were out looking for him. Not saying its impossible but for all those people not to find him for six days in the area the size of a golf course seems a bit odd. but I admit I have no experience in searching. All that said, if we knew MD's condition (i.e. did he appear to be walking for hours barefoot through a marsh) and the toxicology report, it would go a long way in narrowing down possibilities. Also, I'd be interested to know if his phone was found with him (I thought it odd SH knew and offered the status of MD's phone battery).

Agree. Totally. I'm still theorizing that his body was later PUT there. In my head it's the only thing that makes sense. I would think the condition of his body would certainly lend well to solving this mystery, but I admit that I am ignorant to the resources and capabilities of a medical examiner.

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

Sorry, just edited my post. Thanks for the reminder. New here

and good to have you! We try to be helpful to one another. (well, in most threads, lol...)

That said, great post you had. I concur with your insight re those 2 shows but always good to explore everything because we have learned that truth is often stranger than fiction. (and art more interesting than real life IMO. =)

 

[Blythe]

JMO, I would never adjust to having a guest leave my home and being found dead on his way home. This isn't OK. MOO

 

[LadyL]

I think they were probably referring to the weather ... because it was stormy and dark (& possibly the combination of bad weather and swampy terrain?) JMO

It was said that it was a "nightmare" out there "in the dark"--said by one of the friends at the party. How did they know this specifically on that night?

.

 

[LadyL]

from following WS cases for many years, nothing surprises me when alcohol and possibly drugs are involved

here's another weird thing about this case. He supposedly left party at 1:30am. and it starts getting light before 5am. its only 3.5hrs of complete darkness. not that long. Also, he was found 200yds from the party house. and there's houses all along the marsh... so if he had been getting desperate... wouldn't he have been screaming/yelling? I realize its the middle of the night but with such a densely populated neighborhood right there, it would be possible for someone to hear him. especially someone from the party. and furthermore, I-495 is only a couple hundred yards away and its raised up over the wetlands, he could easily hear trucks and perhaps see headlights. and looking the other way, wouldn't he see house lights? I'm just surprised, that unless he OD'd, that this was the sad result.

 

[Volpe]

Approx 1.5 years ago I left a party. Stumbled home down town street. Someone at the party I left called a significant other who came and tracked me down. I denied the ride in tirade of curses while stumbling down street. My ride drove off, who needs that type of feedback. I continued on my drunken way and I too took a shortcut to get home. Through a town "green area" and over a new dam/walkway bisecting two bodies of water. I was lucky that I did not go into the water as late November after Tgiving. Into the woods, lose my balance and on the ground. I recall trying to get up several times but could not pull it off. Laid on my back and passed out. No clue for how long and no idea what time it was. I was wearing work boots, jeans, flannel shirt, sweatshirt and ball cap. Light drizzle I recall but I could be off on that. I wake up and recall seeing Christmas Lights through the woods from my neighbors back yard. Who puts Christmas lights in shrubs in backyard not to mention in Nov. Saved my arse as I knew what direction to walk in. On walk through woods to head home, walked into downed tree limb and lost my glasses and hat. Recovered the hat later and never found the glasses. Made it home never knowing what time it was and passed out upon my arrival. Truly scary and I'm very fortunate, grateful and lucky to be able to type this. I'm much older than MD and I put and found myself in a similar situation. Dangerous and life threatening when alcohol is involved. Sorry for my own personal soap box, but wanted to share as you are on a razors edge with intoxication, bad/cold weather, black out drinker and bad decisions. I've not had alcohol since then. RIP MD. To you others "Stay Alive"!

 

[LadyL]

that makes me so sad ... rest in peace Michael

Or at this point total exhaustion and hypothermia set in. He may have well known where he was at this point, lets say, yet his body just gave out? idk.

 

[LadyL]

or maybe to their perception he was coherent simply because they were viewing him with their own inebriated eyes

Or maybe he was just really, really drunk, and perhaps the only thing his friends aren't being quite truthful about is that "(h)e was coherent."
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/05/15/franklin-police-search-michael-doherty-duke/

Or maybe Michael really was OK, but things quickly turned deadly once hypothermia set in.

I also wonder if Michael was caught on security camera somewhere.

 

[LadyL]

[bbm]

very interesting thank you

also hadn't even thought of the possible presence of scratches etc. on his body

Sport of Orienteering there is a term called "fight". This means while traversing a course or trail one encounters challenging terrain/water/brush. Based on your topo map and skill you decide which direction to take. If you choose shortcut through "fight" you could end up wading, climbing, etc. You are gassed physically vs choosing less "fight", etc. but if skilled and safe can shave time to get to control point. MD, if he indeed traversed the area we think he did, would have run into this "fight". Crossing over a marsh/brook twice, he would be, I think, clearly exhausted and under mental stress. Not to mention the conditions that night/early AM provided. Without sneakers and or shirt his body should show signs of cuts, scratches, abrasions, on his upper torso and feet. Wading through a marsh/underbrush would,I think, promote these type of marks regardless day or night. Autopsy should show this. If not, then something else possibly at play here based on where he ultimately came to rest and where some of his items were found or placed? IMO.

 

[LadyL]

another good point

and

[:welcome4::wagon:

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.

 

[Limecat]

Approx 1.5 years ago I left a party. Stumbled home down town street. Someone at the party I left called a significant other who came and tracked me down. I denied the ride in tirade of curses while stumbling down street. My ride drove off, who needs that type of feedback. I continued on my drunken way and I too took a shortcut to get home. Through a town "green area" and over a new dam/walkway bisecting two bodies of water. I was lucky that I did not go into the water as late November after Tgiving. Into the woods, lose my balance and on the ground. I recall trying to get up several times but could not pull it off. Laid on my back and passed out. No clue for how long and no idea what time it was. I was wearing work boots, jeans, flannel shirt, sweatshirt and ball cap. Light drizzle I recall but I could be off on that. I wake up and recall seeing Christmas Lights through the woods from my neighbors back yard. Who puts Christmas lights in shrubs in backyard not to mention in Nov. Saved my arse as I knew what direction to walk in. On walk through woods to head home, walked into downed tree limb and lost my glasses and hat. Recovered the hat later and never found the glasses. Made it home never knowing what time it was and passed out upon my arrival. Truly scary and I'm very fortunate, grateful and lucky to be able to type this. I'm much older than MD and I put and found myself in a similar situation. Dangerous and life threatening when alcohol is involved. Sorry for my own personal soap box, but wanted to share as you are on a razors edge with intoxication, bad/cold weather, black out drinker and bad decisions. I've not had alcohol since then. RIP MD. To you others "Stay Alive"!

Great post! Just want to throw a story out there but will preface it by saying my hinky meter is ramped up and until we know more ( i.e. Toxicology, autopsy results et al if we ever hear about them) there are two major things that throw me about this tragedy.

Having been young and drunk and perhaps having also ingested other various substances, and having also walked home alone on various occasions and through various terrains, I cannot understand a young, fit healthy make succumbing to the elements so quickly. I live in the northern Midwest where winter temperatures can be far far below zero, and even with that I can't think of an incident where something like this happened even in that severe weather.

But what throws me more is where MD's body was found. I cannot accept that it was that close to the "party house" the entire time they were searching for him. I just don't believe it. It's unkind to say I hope I'm wrong, because no matter the reasons this bright young man lost his life, but I guess it would be "better" if it turns out to be accidental rather than foul play.

Ok incoherent rambling aside (sorry), here is a story. I lived in the Minneapolis area for thirty years. Very heavily populated and our suburb had literally no woods. Cornfields yes, woods no.

I'd gone out of town and my then husband calls me to tell me that at 3 am someone rang our doorbell. He got his gun (did I mention he was a postal worker?) and went to the door. There was no one there, so he goes out to take a look around and there is a very inebriated young man passed out in one of our lawn chairs.

Taking pity on the kid, my ex threw a blanket over him and left him there (it was summer) and checked on him periodically. At some point around 6 am the kid is conscious so my ex asks if he wants to call his folks or a friend for a ride.

Long story short the kid was absolutely ADAMANT that he was in another suburb. The party he'd been kicked out of was over 8 miles away and even in the light of day he was positive he could not be where my ex told him he was. Finally a parent was contacted and the young man was rescued.

Now we lived on a four lane heavily trafficked highway. Speed limits of 50 mph. How that kid made it without getting hit is a miracle. So yes drunks get disoriented and lost. But they rarely die.

IMO


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[HRP]

HRP - You bring a unique theory to the table and fresh insight!

I don't believe anyone here has considered the possibility that Michael was traveling from Maple street through the marsh to get back to the party. Your theory is backed with reasonable logic and it doesn't hurt to have all possibilities on the table. Nice job! Let's discuss.

One reason I can think that this may not be the case is because of things, 1) The Text 2) The ping

The 12:30 AM text for a ride from his brothers, indicates IMO that Michael was ready to leave the party at this time. I think because of the nature of the text and at the time of the text leaves very little wriggle room for Michael to have changed his mind and suddenly want to play survivor in the woods.

IF this did happen, this would have been a very quick change of heart because the 1:08 AM ping was near the entrance of the trailer (assuming ping data is accurate which it may not be) would mean that from 12:30 AM, Michael would have decided to go, get dropped off, travel through the marsh and be heading out near the trailer entrance back to the party by 1:08 AM, less than 40 minutes later.

Now if that were true that he was capable of making it back to that area by 1:08 AM, then he probably was not heavily intoxicated or disoriented so how could he have not made it a couple blocks back to the house at this point from 1:08 AM?

The devils advocate to my explanation above could be that maybe Michael expressed interest in leaving at 12:30 AM and someone did offer him a ride and then the ride took him to Maple street as a prank and said "Okay, Mr. Survivalist, make it back to the house party" so it was technically not Michael's choice but was tricked and decided to take up the challenge and WAS heavily intoxicated thus resulting in a tragic ending.

Although, I have a hard time believing that these kids who genuinely did not want to hurt him but simply pranking would hide this information. They could simply say "we dared / pranked him and when he didn't show up we assumed he decided to go home instead" or tell LE where he was dropped off in attempts to help the search... doesn't add up if this was sincerely a prank gone wrong.

I think it's more likely that Michael wanted to leave at 12:30 AM, waited 25-30 minutes for his brothers to respond. And decided to head out close to 1 AM and that's why his phone was pinged at 1:08 AM at the entrance. And it's possible that his friends did say that they would give him a ride later when they were going to leave but Michael declined because he didn't want to wait. I think his friends getting the time 1:30 AM vs. 1:00 AM mixed up of his departure is a simply and honest mistake to make especially if the night was a little fuzzy from drinking.

However, I still believe there are very odd things going on.... like that one guy knew the trail was bad and that the other guy checked for him in one specific spot 8 times. Very odd.

I still think there's more to the story than what we know.

All JMO!

Hi there. Just so you know, no where did I say Michael wanted to play survivor, far from it. I am saying that he was either pranked or perhaps dared (I'm leaning toward pranked). Similar to the alleged prank done to the girl Taylor (which I posted earlier). I am not inferring Michael knew he was being pranked--a prank requires the party pranked not knowing (by definition).

Also, the times are estimates. There are reports saying Michael left at around 1:00AM, at 1:30AM. The only true time, it appears via reports, is the 1:08AM time. However, although this time (1:08AM) is certain--the exact location of that time (which indicates the last ping from his phone) is not certain. It must be realized that the location is "BELIEVED" to be in an area from the marsh. There is no hard and set fact that that last ping (at 1:08AM) came from any potential "trail" entrance (it is "believed" it may have, it is "assumed" it could have been, it is "surmised", but it is not a fact).

Also, there is the question of the "clean" shoe, which I asked about in my first post on this thread. I cannot find any reporting of such "clean" shoe (or shoes). I only found that one shoe did not appear to be "washed up" (as in it did not float in the water and then wash up on the bank of the brook.

The brook in the satellite maps is not the trail. I noticed that some think that is the viewable trail. That is the brook. I have not been able to see any trail from any satellite map, and I looked at many. If someone has any map that shows the "trail" (which is overgrown per witnesses), then please provide a link.

As for the pranking and being driven (perhaps) to Maple Street--I look at it this way. Michael was not an idiot--far from it. I look at where he ended up (near the party house) as perhaps his own determination to "play by the rules" (as one 21 year-old party goer stated Michael was akin to). Perhaps he was pranked to get back to the party house.

In the shows that I mentioned (in my earlier posts), these are not cartoons. In other words, pranks have serious outcomes (good or bad), and trying to live and thrive in a swamp is tough. Michael may have been placed in a scenario with a phone that was "charged a little" from the party home (per reports), and given a ride not to his home, but to a prank he was not prepared to undertake.

I truly believe there will be no clear answers on what happened. But I find that Michael did accomplish what he set out to do--by getting to that destination. Why on Earth would an engineering student, a straight A student, a bright young man go to the end of Oak Extension and then trudge through mud and water, barefooted by the time he got all the way to Maple Street--only to turn around and trudge fully barefooted all the way back to the party home?

From Maple Street, using his shirt to cover his head in the rain, he gets into the mud to cross, loses one shoe, crosses, loses the second shoe & shirt, then walks on the Franklin side of the brook to the party house location. Why he was not found is a mystery. It could be because wetlands in Franklin are protected areas? There are strict contamination regulations when it comes to wetlands in Franklin (separate for Franklin) as well as those incorporated with the wetlands regulations in all of Massachusetts.