VA VA - Scott Ratigan, 24, found murdered in apartment, Arlington, 17 Jan 2020

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First thread I started, hopefully done correctly. Odd case - very nice area of Arlington/Ballston in Northern VA.

Arlington neighborhood on edge after 2020's first homicide

Arlington neighborhood on edge after 2020's first homicide

ARLINGTON, Va. - People living in a Northern Virginia neighborhood are on edge after a young man was found dead inside an Arlington apartment building.
~

The victim’s family is asking the public for help in finding their son’s killer. The victim is 24-year-old Scott Ratigan and here’s what we know so far:

• He was dead when police arrived to the Randolph Street apartment in this Ballston neighborhood last Friday.
• Dispatch audio from first responders indicate he apartment spelled like bleach.
• Ratigan reportedly had upper body trauma.

His father calls his son’s murder very unfortunate saying, “Somebody tragically killed him. We don’t know who, we don’t know why,” said John Ratigan in an interview with FOX 5’s Tisha Lewis.

Scott Ratigan was reportedly found dead Friday night around 5:30 — four people were apparently at the apartment when he was found dead but still no suspect or motive.

~

Dispatch audio from when first responders arrived to the scene references the apartment smelled like bleach, also pointing out no weapons were found. Residents say a homicide investigation is atypical in this neighborhood.

Arlington County police are offering few details about what may have taken place.

Plus, no suspect description.

There are apparently surveillance cameras and police are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

 

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Victim's Facebook: Scott Ratigan

 

[GordianKnot]

First thread I started, hopefully done correctly. Odd case - very nice area of Arlington/Ballston in Northern VA.

Arlington neighborhood on edge after 2020's first homicide

Arlington neighborhood on edge after 2020's first homicide

ARLINGTON, Va. - People living in a Northern Virginia neighborhood are on edge after a young man was found dead inside an Arlington apartment building.
~

The victim’s family is asking the public for help in finding their son’s killer. The victim is 24-year-old Scott Ratigan and here’s what we know so far:

• He was dead when police arrived to the Randolph Street apartment in this Ballston neighborhood last Friday.
• Dispatch audio from first responders indicate he apartment spelled like bleach.
• Ratigan reportedly had upper body trauma.

His father calls his son’s murder very unfortunate saying, “Somebody tragically killed him. We don’t know who, we don’t know why,” said John Ratigan in an interview with FOX 5’s Tisha Lewis.

Scott Ratigan was reportedly found dead Friday night around 5:30 — four people were apparently at the apartment when he was found dead but still no suspect or motive.

~

Dispatch audio from when first responders arrived to the scene references the apartment smelled like bleach, also pointing out no weapons were found. Residents say a homicide investigation is atypical in this neighborhood.

Arlington County police are offering few details about what may have taken place.

Plus, no suspect description.

There are apparently surveillance cameras and police are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

BBM:

Odor of bleach means the killer spent some time cleaning up the murder scene.

Wonder who the 4 people were at the apartment when first responders showed up.

Also, would be interesting to know when they arrived at his apartment, and whether they all arrived at the same time or not.

Hopefully, the cameras are going to be a big assist to LE here.

At first blush, his FB doesn't raise any red flags.

JMO.

 

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Such an odd case with little known. Says police responded to a report of a man in cardiac arrest. Medical examiner has ruled it a homicide, as a result of "trauma to the upper body."

UPDATE: Arlington police rule suspicious death a homicide

On January 17, Arlington County police responded to a report of a man in cardiac arrest and discovered a deceased male inside a residence in the Ballston-Virginia Square neighborhood.

On Tuesday, the police department announced the medical examiner ruled the man’s suspicious death a homicide.

~

24-Year-Old Arlington Man’s Death Ruled Homicide

The suspicious death of a 24-year-old Arlington, Virginia, man was declared a homicide on Tuesday.

Arlington County police say Scott Ratigan was found dead inside an apartment building on the corner of 9th and Randolph streets in the Ballston area Friday evening.

The original call to police was for cardiac arrest, police said.

A medical examiner ruled Ratigan's death a homicide and said he suffered trauma to his upper body, police said.

Police are investigating his death.

 

[GordianKnot]

Dispatch audio: Home where Arlington man murdered smelled of bleach

Video at link showing the apartment building where he was found murdered.

Those are some nice-looking apartments…not cheap.

Surveillance cameras at the entry, security + front desk staff.

This one ain't going to end up being aired on Unsolved Mysteries, that's for sure.

It's not a matter of if LE solves it, it's simply going to be a question of how quickly.

I'm predicting we'll see an arrest come sooner rather than later in this case.

JMO.

 

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Tisha Lewis FOX 5 DC

TRAGIC: A northern Virginia father says his son, 24 year old Scott Ratigan, was “a great kid” calling his murder “very unfortunate.”

AT 4,5&6: Ratigan’s father says murder was “not a drug-related thing.”

Ratigan was found dead inside an Arlington apartment Friday night. There was reportedly a bleach smell in the apartment when police arrived #fox5dc

Brief news clip with the dad

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=161359438614028

 

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Mystery Surrounds Arlington Man’s Death

Dispatch call said blood coming from mouth, hands, and neck.

So who were the four people who were at the apartment? Roommates? Friends? Did they come in and discover and call for assistance? And no 911 calls have been released.

I also predict this will be solved quickly. The police aren't out doing a manhunt for a suspect. It's probably someone already in their crosshairs.

 

[GordianKnot]

Mystery Surrounds Arlington Man’s Death

Dispatch call said blood coming from mouth, hands, and neck.

So who were the four people who were at the apartment? Roommates? Friends? Did they come in and discover and call for assistance? And no 911 calls have been released.

I also predict this will be solved quickly. The police aren't out doing a manhunt for a suspect. It's probably someone already in their crosshairs.

Stabbing, maybe?

Blood coming from hands sounds like defensive wounds.

If SR was stabbed, could be either a male or female perp ala Jodi Arias.

Have they reported what room he was found in, e.g., bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, etc.?

JMO.

 

[GordianKnot]

BREAKING: Man's Death in Ballston Ruled a Homicide

SABBM:

Police were called to the AVA Ballston Square building at 850 N. Randolph Street around 5:30 p.m. Friday for a report of a man found unresponsive and bloodied in an apartment. He was declared dead on scene by medics. A 911 caller reported a strong smell of bleach in the apartment, according to scanner traffic.
______________

Old article, just trying to glean a few more nuggets of information.

From this article, it sounds like it was the 911 caller who noted the smell of bleach, not the first responders.

Questions that come to mind:

• When was the last known live sighting of SR?
• Where was SR's body found in the apartment?
• Who placed the 911 call?
• Who were the 4 people in his apartment when EMS arrived on scene?
• What was the nature of the blunt force trauma to his body?
• What was his relationship status?

Given the number of security features in his building, I'm half-surprised we haven't heard word of any arrest having been made yet.

JMO.

 

[Razz]

BREAKING: Man's Death in Ballston Ruled a Homicide

SABBM:

Police were called to the AVA Ballston Square building at 850 N. Randolph Street around 5:30 p.m. Friday for a report of a man found unresponsive and bloodied in an apartment. He was declared dead on scene by medics. A 911 caller reported a strong smell of bleach in the apartment, according to scanner traffic.
______________

Old article, just trying to glean a few more nuggets of information.

From this article, it sounds like it was the 911 caller who noted the smell of bleach, not the first responders.

Questions that come to mind:

• When was the last known live sighting of SR?
• Where was SR's body found in the apartment?
• Who placed the 911 call?
• Who were the 4 people in his apartment when EMS arrived on scene?
• What was the nature of the blunt force trauma to his body?
• What was his relationship status?

Given the number of security features in his building, I'm half-surprised we haven't heard word of any arrest having been made yet.

JMO.

Yes! And it's been 10 days!

 

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BREAKING: Man's Death in Ballston Ruled a Homicide

SABBM:

Police were called to the AVA Ballston Square building at 850 N. Randolph Street around 5:30 p.m. Friday for a report of a man found unresponsive and bloodied in an apartment. He was declared dead on scene by medics. A 911 caller reported a strong smell of bleach in the apartment, according to scanner traffic.
______________

Old article, just trying to glean a few more nuggets of information.

From this article, it sounds like it was the 911 caller who noted the smell of bleach, not the first responders.

Questions that come to mind:

• When was the last known live sighting of SR?
• Where was SR's body found in the apartment?
• Who placed the 911 call?
• Who were the 4 people in his apartment when EMS arrived on scene?
• What was the nature of the blunt force trauma to his body?
• What was his relationship status?

Given the number of security features in his building, I'm half-surprised we haven't heard word of any arrest having been made yet.

JMO.

All very good questions. In this article, it says he had a girlfriend.

John Ratigan confirming a LinkedIn profile picture is his son Scott Ratigan who went to Radford University and recently worked a corporate sales job.

We’re told Ratigan has a sister and also a girlfriend.

He grew up in a Gainesville, Virginia neighborhood.

Arlington neighborhood on edge after 2020's first homicide

His obituary says he has two sisters.

Scott Ratigan - Friday, January 17th, 2020

 

[_Patches]

Ok, so I live in the building that this occurred in and had to create an account because I think this one might actually become interesting.

Regarding security, there was a meeting over the weekend between residents, police, and building management. In that meeting, it was told to us that the camera security system was NOT accessible from the main desk on the day of the murder (i.e. they couldn't pull up video on that day on location). They MAY have been able to pull footage off a server, but it was not confirmed. One of the detectives said that if he had "camera stills" that he wanted the public to see, he would want us all to look at them. There was also a pretty significant building renovation that was "finished" last summer. Some of the cameras still had plastic wrap on them ~1 month ago, I can't imagine those were functioning. It is very easy to tailgate into the building without a key fob, and nothing is needed to access individual floors.

They were pretty adamant that there isn't a continuing threat to community, but they weren't able to offer any details more than what is available already to put anyone's mind at ease.

I had to do some snooping, but I don't know if he was actually a resident. I can pretty much confirm he had a sister that lived there. They could have been roommates or he may have lived in a different apartment in the building. Police called at 530pm on a Friday and reported 4 people were there. Knowing Arlington pretty well, it is not far fetched to think that those people were all just coming home from work and meeting up for HH or something else. Regardless, they only have two bedroom apartments, so not all of those people lived there.

I also found a man who was ~1 year older than Scott and went to the same high school (are friends on Facebook) who also died on what I believe to be the same morning or possibly the night before. There were people posting of his passing on the Friday the 17th at 1130am, but there is no obituary or anything to confirm. Also no cause of death known. This second person has a decent criminal history complete with a few car burglaries, one of them in which he stole a gun and accidentally shot himself. I have no idea how, but that is either a crazy coincidence or it is directly related in someway. He was a felon, so if they had fingerprints, he'd be matched immediately.

I was skeptical about the cameras at first beforehand, the meeting with police only further raised my suspicions that this might not be solved immediately. I really don't know about this one...

 

[scdiv]

Oh wow. Thank you for posting. This is such a bizarre, confusing situation. That is a lot to process. Glad you are here!!!

Welcome to websleuths @_Patches!

 

[_Patches]

Oh wow. Thank you for posting. This is such a bizarre, confusing situation. That is a lot to process. Glad you are here!!!

Welcome to websleuths @_Patches!

No problem, been looking for somewhere to sort of put some of that together for sake of the future if this doesn’t get wrapped up soon. Definitely a sad situation, hoping police are just nailing down details to solve this with what they have already and none of this ends up being relevant anyway.

 

[Allynator]

Watching this one for sure. He had a very nice obituary. Sad.

 

[mrz]

No problem, been looking for somewhere to sort of put some of that together for sake of the future if this doesn’t get wrapped up soon. Definitely a sad situation, hoping police are just nailing down details to solve this with what they have already and none of this ends up being relevant anyway.

Yes. Thanks for any news you can provide. Very much appreciated!

 

[KNinTX]

No problem, been looking for somewhere to sort of put some of that together for sake of the future if this doesn’t get wrapped up soon. Definitely a sad situation, hoping police are just nailing down details to solve this with what they have already and none of this ends up being relevant anyway.

Thank you for sharing, and I’m sorry you’re going through what must be a very unsettling experience. May I ask how many units are in your building (approximately)?

 

[_Patches]

Thank you for sharing, and I’m sorry you’re going through what must be a very unsettling experience. May I ask how many units are in your building (approximately)?

It’s pretty large. There’s 21 floors of apartments and 30+ apartments on each floor. There is probably close to 1000 people living here, mostly young professionals.

 

[pottsandpans]

Thank you for starting this post. I am very close to his girlfriend and this has just been absolutely destroying her. Scott was an amazing person. I know some of the answers to the questions posted above, but I’ll keep them to myself, out of respect to the family. (And I’m sure there are rules about posting “unverified” information.)

 

[pottsandpans]

I went to that high school around the same time. If the second person you’re talking about is who I think it is, I believe his was a suicide and not accidental.

Ok, so I live in the building that this occurred in and had to create an account because I think this one might actually become interesting.

Regarding security, there was a meeting over the weekend between residents, police, and building management. In that meeting, it was told to us that the camera security system was NOT accessible from the main desk on the day of the murder (i.e. they couldn't pull up video on that day on location). They MAY have been able to pull footage off a server, but it was not confirmed. One of the detectives said that if he had "camera stills" that he wanted the public to see, he would want us all to look at them. There was also a pretty significant building renovation that was "finished" last summer. Some of the cameras still had plastic wrap on them ~1 month ago, I can't imagine those were functioning. It is very easy to tailgate into the building without a key fob, and nothing is needed to access individual floors.

They were pretty adamant that there isn't a continuing threat to community, but they weren't able to offer any details more than what is available already to put anyone's mind at ease.

I had to do some snooping, but I don't know if he was actually a resident. I can pretty much confirm he had a sister that lived there. They could have been roommates or he may have lived in a different apartment in the building. Police called at 530pm on a Friday and reported 4 people were there. Knowing Arlington pretty well, it is not far fetched to think that those people were all just coming home from work and meeting up for HH or something else. Regardless, they only have two bedroom apartments, so not all of those people lived there.

I also found a man who was ~1 year older than Scott and went to the same high school (are friends on Facebook) who also died on what I believe to be the same morning or possibly the night before. There were people posting of his passing on the Friday the 17th at 1130am, but there is no obituary or anything to confirm. Also no cause of death known. This second person has a decent criminal history complete with a few car burglaries, one of them in which he stole a gun and accidentally shot himself. I have no idea how, but that is either a crazy coincidence or it is directly related in someway. He was a felon, so if they had fingerprints, he'd be matched immediately.

I was skeptical about the cameras at first beforehand, the meeting with police only further raised my suspicions that this might not be solved immediately. I really don't know about this one...