georgiagirl
Opinionated Southern Belle
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Was this case ever solved???
For almost three years, Steven Nisenfeld searched for a reasonable explanation of why his 18-year-old son, Bryan, left a midday literature class at Roger Williams University on February 6, 1997, and was never heard from again. In January, things began to make more sense after the elder Nisenfeld traveled from his New Jersey home to the Scituate headquarters of the Rhode Island State Police.
Bryan Nisenfeld's death remained shrouded in mystery even after a few of his bones washed up on Hog Island in Narragansett Bay, near Roger Williams' Bristol campus, in August 1997. But the small amount of physical evidence precluded an autopsy, and, says Maj. Steven Pare, state police didn't find any indication of suspicious activity in connection with Nisenfeld's disappearance or death. The conclusion is that the college freshman, who showed signs of being emotionally upset in the week before he vanished, either committed suicide or died after accidentally falling into the bay.
But paging through the state police report, Steven Nisenfeld found what he considers the smoking gun responsible for his son's death: a security officer at Roger Williams perceived a disagreement between Bryan Nisenfeld and a male former RWU student as possibly being a romantic tiff. Because of this, Steven Nisenfeld believes, a threat to his son wasn't taken seriously and college officials botched the chance for an intervention that might have spared Bryan's life.
It's difficult to know whether this is true. It's also hard to tell whether Steven Nisenfeld is getting at a hidden truth or playing to the fears of the gay community in an attempt to assuage the lingering pain from his son's mysterious death. But it seems clear that officials at Roger Williams -- who waited six days in February 1997 before informing Bryan's parents that he was missing (see "Sea of indifference," News, January 8, 1998) -- have been less than forthcoming from the start. And the revelation from the state police investigation has provided fresh ammunition for Nisenfeld, a social worker in a small blue-collar suburb of Philadelphia, who has proven himself capable of gaining attention and influencing public officials.
When Nisenfeld became disenchanted with the probe by Bristol police into Bryan's death, former Attorney General Jeff Pine directed state police to investigate the case after Nisenfeld contacted Governor Lincoln Almond and US Senators Jack Reed and the late John Chafee.
Bewildered by the response at Roger Williams University when his son vanished, Nisenfeld convinced US Representative Robert E. Andrews (D-NJ) to introduce legislation in Congress, known as "Bryan's Law," to require colleges and universities to notify parents if their children are missing 24 hours.
Armed now with an argument that resonates in the gay community because of the prevalence of hate crimes (and the lack of priority that investigators sometimes attach to solving them), Nisenfeld and Bryan's mother, Marianne C. Brown, in early February filed a civil suit against RWU and a number of university officials in US District Court in Providence, seeking legal validation for their version of events.
According to his parents, Bryan had a heated telephone argument January 31, 1997 -- six days before he vanished -- with Josh Cohen, a former classmate who had dropped out of Roger Williams University the previous semester. To this day, Steven Nisenfeld remains unsure whether Cohen and his son were friends or lovers. But he maintains that Cohen threatened Bryan and left him in a state of fear. "He was very upset," Steven Nisenfeld says. According to Nisenfeld, his son told him that Cohen indicated "he'd get on campus any time he wanted and he could beat me up."
http://www.providencephoenix.com/archive/features/00/03/16/BRYAN.html
For almost three years, Steven Nisenfeld searched for a reasonable explanation of why his 18-year-old son, Bryan, left a midday literature class at Roger Williams University on February 6, 1997, and was never heard from again. In January, things began to make more sense after the elder Nisenfeld traveled from his New Jersey home to the Scituate headquarters of the Rhode Island State Police.
Bryan Nisenfeld's death remained shrouded in mystery even after a few of his bones washed up on Hog Island in Narragansett Bay, near Roger Williams' Bristol campus, in August 1997. But the small amount of physical evidence precluded an autopsy, and, says Maj. Steven Pare, state police didn't find any indication of suspicious activity in connection with Nisenfeld's disappearance or death. The conclusion is that the college freshman, who showed signs of being emotionally upset in the week before he vanished, either committed suicide or died after accidentally falling into the bay.
But paging through the state police report, Steven Nisenfeld found what he considers the smoking gun responsible for his son's death: a security officer at Roger Williams perceived a disagreement between Bryan Nisenfeld and a male former RWU student as possibly being a romantic tiff. Because of this, Steven Nisenfeld believes, a threat to his son wasn't taken seriously and college officials botched the chance for an intervention that might have spared Bryan's life.
It's difficult to know whether this is true. It's also hard to tell whether Steven Nisenfeld is getting at a hidden truth or playing to the fears of the gay community in an attempt to assuage the lingering pain from his son's mysterious death. But it seems clear that officials at Roger Williams -- who waited six days in February 1997 before informing Bryan's parents that he was missing (see "Sea of indifference," News, January 8, 1998) -- have been less than forthcoming from the start. And the revelation from the state police investigation has provided fresh ammunition for Nisenfeld, a social worker in a small blue-collar suburb of Philadelphia, who has proven himself capable of gaining attention and influencing public officials.
When Nisenfeld became disenchanted with the probe by Bristol police into Bryan's death, former Attorney General Jeff Pine directed state police to investigate the case after Nisenfeld contacted Governor Lincoln Almond and US Senators Jack Reed and the late John Chafee.
Bewildered by the response at Roger Williams University when his son vanished, Nisenfeld convinced US Representative Robert E. Andrews (D-NJ) to introduce legislation in Congress, known as "Bryan's Law," to require colleges and universities to notify parents if their children are missing 24 hours.
Armed now with an argument that resonates in the gay community because of the prevalence of hate crimes (and the lack of priority that investigators sometimes attach to solving them), Nisenfeld and Bryan's mother, Marianne C. Brown, in early February filed a civil suit against RWU and a number of university officials in US District Court in Providence, seeking legal validation for their version of events.
According to his parents, Bryan had a heated telephone argument January 31, 1997 -- six days before he vanished -- with Josh Cohen, a former classmate who had dropped out of Roger Williams University the previous semester. To this day, Steven Nisenfeld remains unsure whether Cohen and his son were friends or lovers. But he maintains that Cohen threatened Bryan and left him in a state of fear. "He was very upset," Steven Nisenfeld says. According to Nisenfeld, his son told him that Cohen indicated "he'd get on campus any time he wanted and he could beat me up."
http://www.providencephoenix.com/archive/features/00/03/16/BRYAN.html