Death of Oklahoma teen found dead on highway with his teeth knocked out after four-day party is not being investigated as murder
Presgrove’s teeth were found scattered around his body
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The mysterious death of a teenager whose body was found along a highway with his teeth knocked out after a four-day party will not be investigated as murder, according to the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety.
Noah Presgrove, 19, was found dead on 4 September next to Highway 81 in Jefferson County, Oklahoma. He was naked apart from a pair of mismatched shoes, and had suffered a fractured skull, broken ribs and his teeth were found scattered near his body.
On Tuesday 30 April, the county's medical examiner revealed the young man's cause of death: multiple blunt force injuries.
While that report answered how he died, the manner of death – what caused those blunt force injuries – remains a mystery. The medical examiner checked the "unknown" box on the finalised report.
In an email to local reporters, the ODPS and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said the young man's death is not being investigated as a murder, according to KSWO. Immediately after his discovery, the OHP described his death as “suspicious”, but it's unclear if the agency ever seriously considered murder as a possible scenario.
Presgrove had recently graduated and reportedly planned to join the military after taking a summer off. On the day he died, Presgrove had been attending a four-day 22nd birthday party. His friend said that Presgrove wanted to go for a walk, but could not find one of his shoes, so he took another.
His aunt, Robyn Smith, said that all of Presgrove's injuries were to his left side, according to NewsNation.
Presgrove's brother, Dailen Presgrove, previously told the broadcaster that he believed foul play was involved.
“He was in the fetal position. And his body was covered up,” Dailen told the outlet. “You can see blood seeping through the covering. … As I’m looking at it, it just seems weird. The placement of the body. The tooth, the shorts. It doesn’t look like a hit-and-run.”
The new report provides some details into what Presgrove was doing in the hours before his death. It notes that he had been drinking at the house party and had also rolled an ATV he was driving with his friends earlier that day.
The report also revealed that Presgrove reportedly returned to the house after the ATV incident and got into a fight with his girlfriend. He then left on 3 September, which was the last time anyone at the party saw him.
The detail regarding the girlfriend confused Presgrove's sister, Madison Rawlings, who told Fox News Digital she was unaware of the girl's existence.
“I’m not sure who the girl he is ‘supposedly’ arguing with,” Ms Rawlings told the outlet. “That is a question I reached out about with the medical examiner.”
The report also noted that no vehicle debris was found at the site, which would have likely occurred if Presgrove had been hit by a vehicle.
“There were no vehicle parts or debris observed on the scene. At this time, what transpired on how the body was found on the road having multiple blunt force injuries is unknown,” the report says, according to The New York Post. “Therefore, the manner of death is deemed undetermined.”
Members of Presgrove’s family are still searching for answers, whether foul play was involved or not.
“Even if it was an accident, it doesn’t matter, come clean,” Avery Poucher, Presgrove’s cousin, told KSWO. “It hurts not to know. It’ll hurt knowing, but it hurts more not to know and wondering, and just thinking every night what happened.”