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

[qumph]

I'm only saying this because there is so much speculation..
im from franklin and around michaels age. I have mutual friends with him.

The reason the news and media are not calling the phyllis lane thing a party is because 30 people would not really be considered a party in franklin. it's just a bunch of friends gathering and hanging out. When people from college come home we all just meet up and hang..nothing too crazy. obviously drinking is involved. many college aged kids use certain drugs recreationally, but I don't think it's necessary to keep bringing up that he may have been on anything. it's not worth it and it doesn't help the situation.

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

I take your point, but he didn't have to wade through marshes to get home, there's a path. People have been tying blue ribbons on it for days now. Suggesting wading implies a level of effort that theoretically wasn't necessary. There's even a video of the path out there from some news crew.

RBBM.

I really don't think we know for sure what kind of shape he was in when he headed out, but while under the influence, people often do things they would never do sober, IMO. Growing up in Japan, my dad was a high school English teacher. One of his students went out drinking one night and took a taxi home. Upon exiting the vehicle, he turned away from the house where he lived with his parents, fell into an irrigation ditch and drowned. His dad found the body the following day. He was eighteen.

So back to Michael. As you pointed out, he wouldn't have been expecting to encounter water. Yet,
"Authorities also announced Tuesday that they found a shirt and shoe on one side of the water and another shoe on the opposite embankment. They said it does not appear they washed up there, based on their condition." (BBM)
http://www.necn.com/news/new-englan...issing-Duke-University-Student-422718774.html

So the assumption is that he made it across the water to the Bellingham side, at least at one point.

I'm just trying to figure out what Michael might have thought once he realized he was in water. Wouldn't he have tried to get out? Or was he so out of it that he didn't understand the situation he was in? Could he have been experiencing confusion due to hypothermia even before he fell into the water? According to the article at the link, "On the day he was reported missing, authorities discovered a shirt and shoe near within a mile of Phyllis Lane." (BBM)
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/05/photos_of_michael_doherty_sear.html

So I looked up the past weather observations for Worcester, MA (closest location with available data; approx. 23 miles northwest of Franklin as the crow flies).

Sat., May 13th:
Temperature: MIN. 39 F @ 7:02 AM; MAX: 48 F @ 7:35 PM; Precipitation: 1.09"

Sun., May 14th:
Temperature: MIN. 44 F @ 7:35 AM; MAX. 59 F @ 5:53 PM; Precipitation: 0.28"

I suppose it's possible that Michael was outside for quite some time before running into the water, and thus the effects of hypothermia were already setting in by the time he got there. I don't know ....

 

[andalso]

With so many resources in a relatively small area I am surprise this young man has not been found.

I am skeptical about the hypothermia theory and lean more towards the idea that he got disoriented in the dark whilst slightly (or more) inebriated and cold/wet which perhaps lead to some panicked and poor decision making. I do believe he will be found in the water....eventually.

IMO, Water has a way of revealing bodies in it's own time. It's sad.

Locals...was this marsh/water swimmable? Or too much 'marshiness' (weeds, mud, muck) which can make swimming difficult.

Also, am I right to assume there are no lights on the path he took?

Were his sneakers new/fairly nice/expensive? I ask because maybe he simply took them off because he didn't want to ruin them. And, was he wearing socks? (Don't most people wear socks with sneakers?)

Also, could he have gotten stuck in the swamp mud and couldn't move...i.e. like quicksand but with mud?

These are just a few of the thoughts floating through my mind.

I hope this young man is found today. I have the utmost sympathy for his family and friends and hope they find answers soon.

(I have tried to keep up but may have missed a few things.)

 

[terracotta]

It would seem that he will be found, eventually where his shoes were found or in that vicinity. It is so sad and unfortunate that a poor decision costs a young man his life. It is just so terrible. My heart goes out to his family and friends.

I currently live in NC (actually right by Duke) and will be moving back up to Boston in the next couple weeks. We have such warm weather here that we barely wear a jacket. 70 degrees without humidity feels freezing to us. So it would seem if he was out in that weather he would be more susceptible to hypothermia because he wasn't acclimated to those temps.

 

[Yemelyan]

Just to clarify from an earlier post asking how far away the body is that was found in the Charles River yesterday; it was found right against a waterfront walking path/park (for lack of a better term) called the Esplanade right in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. It is literally a stone's throw from the place where fellow missing person Ram Jayakumar parked his car right before he disappeared. Police have identified that body but have declined to release that info pending family notification. So it is unlikely to be Michael (though when I first read about it, and before I read that the remains were partially skeletonized, I admit my mind did wonder if there was some way Michael was picked up or hitchhiked into the city).

 

[ladeda7777]

I was thinking about the possibility of a Bobcat. They're lone animals, typically and if they are not alone or come in contact with humans they are often rabid. If MD was in the marshy, deeper side, a bobcat looking at someone in that water might appear smaller. There have been attacks in New England by Bobcats.A father and son last year who were attacked in broad daylight.

Trying to defend oneself you would start with the hands and if they became injured period you might put a shoe on it to help fend off the bobcat. When that too is no long useful you might grab the other shoe for the other hand. If that fails you might get your shirt and wrap it around your arm.

Bobcats take their prey and cover them under different types of branches, greenery and marsh grass so that they can come back later.Bobcats can be fierce and if they're prey is impaired at all their hunt could be successful.


http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/df...lants/mammals/more-about-bobcats-generic.html
http://wwlp.com/2017/01/17/bobcat-attacks-women-eating-lunch/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bobcat-attacks-mass-man-in-his-garage/

 

[JaJo]

The locals don't take kindly to speculation on the Franklin FB group page. A question was just asked on the Facebook Police page but was deleted quickly, but not sure by whom. The poster simply asked why the last ping of Michael's cellphone was 1:08AM but police are saying he left party at approx 1:30AM. One poster responded that only the family had the right to that information. Seems to me the answer could be as simple as the phone died before he left the party and not in the water as many may have "assumed." Media has reported the phone battery was low before he left the party and some reported it was dead. Could be important and may be nothing.

 

[Beth11311]

I agree - I'm not getting the sense it was suicide, unless there was a breakup he was distraught over, etc. but again I too have been wrong. I think intoxicated, plus downpour, plus temperatures and night, may have just been a sadly deadly combo...


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I remember that father and son! Growing up we had a mountain lion that killed two joggers (separate attacks) and dragged them up into the trees, so I think it took a bit to find them..scary.

I wonder though, if he was attacked I would expect us to see blood, somewhere, and would think the dogs would definitely pick up on blood...if he succumbed to the Bobcat I would imagine there would be enough blood that it wouldn't be washed away from the rain - and we would expect to see some sort of marks on the shoes, I would think, from using them to defend himself? This is of course just MOO, anything is possible!


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[JaJo]

Don't know how true it is, but someone just said their child read on their social media that Michael was found. This has NOT been verified, but sure am hoping and praying it is true!!!

 

[JaJo]

A person in the know says they did find him, but no details yet.

 

[Steleheart]

Don't know how true it is, but someone just said their child read on their social media that Michael was found. This has NOT been verified, but sure am hoping and praying it is true!!!

SO far just rumor by unknown. I am seeing nothing on family or MSM

 

[cdogstu99]

Yes just saw on Facebook page that they said they heard on scanner that they found him.


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[JaJo]

A neighbor found him. He wasn't in the water, so must have tried to burrow somewhere. Details haven't been released yet.

 

[Beth11311]

Yes just saw on Facebook page that they said they heard on scanner that they found him.


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Oh my goodness. The wistful child in me hopes perchance they found him alive. The cynical adult in my knows it's not probable. I hope we hear more soon.


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[Normancita]

I'm worried this is bad news....

If he's not in the water and just burrowed somewhere, wouldn't he have come to, gotten up and sought help if he were cognizant?


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[cdogstu99]

I'm worried this is bad news....

If he's not in the water and just burrowed somewhere, wouldn't he have come to, gotten up and sought help if he were cognizant?


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given all of the oddities with the clothing placement, if he is indeed burrowed somwhere (and not in the water) it is still bringing me back to the theory that he took something (synthetic weed, lsd, pills, etc) that did not agree with him

 

[JaJo]

Someone posted that he was found 500 ft from the party house. With the location of the sneakers, I'm thinking maybe he backtracked or something?

 

[cdogstu99]

oh my god --not sure if true but someone is saying that he was found 500 feet from the house party

 

[cdogstu99]

if true, i would say the franklin police have some explaining to do

 

[Normancita]

Have there been any reports if he was found alive?


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