Mystery continues to shroud the death of a teen whose body was discovered beside a highway last September – as his full autopsy says the cause is still ‘undetermined’.
Noah Presgrove, 19, was wearing only two mismatched shoes when his body was discovered on a desolate stretch of US-81 in the rural town of Terral on September 4.
He was last seen alive about a mile away at a four-day 22nd birthday party with friends over the Labor Day weekend that was heavily documented on social media.
The Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Leonardo Roquero finally released the full autopsy report on Monday, more than eight months later.
Roquero confirmed Presgrove died of ‘multiple blunt force injuries’, but how he got them was ‘undetermined’.
Noah Presgrove, 19, was wearing only shoes when his body was discovered on a desolate stretch of US-81 in Terral, Oklahoma , on September 4
He was last seen alive at the four-day 22nd birthday party with friends over the Labor Day weekend that was heavily documented on social media
The report gave more details on the grisly injuries the teen sustained in the hours before he died.
Roquero detailed extensive injuries to the teen’s upper body, including 10 broken ribs, serious skull and neck fractures, internal bleeding, and abrasions all over his body.
The skin on left side of his scalp was torn off to the bone and a clump of hair and skin was found in the middle of the highway.
‘Additionally, a clump of hair was observed on the right buttock without blood or tissue,’ Roquero wrote.
Both his upper and lower teeth were broken ‘with few fragments and found inside the mouth’ and others strewn across the road several feet from his body.
He was bleeding out of his ears and had a cut on his lower lip.
Presgrove’s C1, C2, C6, C7 vertebrae were fractured to varying degrees and C1 was displaced – indicating a seriously broken neck.
There was one extensive skull fracture running across his head and multiple smaller ones, with police investigators describing his head as being ‘caved in’.
Presgrove had about 20ml of blood pooled inside his head from a brain bleed, and damage to the brain itself.
Both lungs were punctured and he had internal injuries to his heart, spleen, and stomach and internal bleeding of at least 1,550ml – about 3.2 pints.
He had road rash on upper back and abrasions from grazes on his left shoulder, left arm, left side of torso, and both buttocks.
Presgrove’s family (pictured with his sister Madison Rawling) were confused by aspects of the report but said they had confidence in the investigation
Oklahoma Highway Patrol detectives, who are leading the investigation, are still unsure how Presgrove died, and were told conflicting stories about that night
That weekend they were drunkenly celebrating the end of summer with a ranging party at the birthday girl’s home
Other grazes were on his left eyebrow, corner of the left eye and left cheek, left ear, right neck, and behind his right ear.
Presgrove had healed abrasions and scabs on his nose, both hands and knuckles, left foot and heel, round healing ulcer on right thigh – all of which predated the injuries from that night.
Roquero wrote that there were ‘no vehicle parts or debris observed on the scene’, indicating Presgrove was almost certainly not hit by a car.
‘He was naked and was only wearing unmatching shoes. There was a pair of shorts found several feet from the decedent and was reported to be his,’ Roquero wrote.
‘Additionally, there were three pieces of a white metal chain as well as part of a tooth present several feet from the decedent.’
Roquero noted there was ‘a drawing in black ink of a stick-figure person on the side of the right thigh’.
A video from the Saturday night of the party, on September 2, showed Presgrove’s friends drawing their names and other doodles on his back and buttocks.
He went home and washed some of it off, but is believed to not have been able to get all of the marker off before he went back to the party the next evening.
The Adidas shoe Presgrove was wearing was his, and the other, a ‘Hey Dude’ slip-on, was from another party guest who was asleep at the time.
Presgrove was a high school football player until his graduation in May
A friend who wasn’t at the party questioned one of the teenagers in the weeks that followed about what happened to cause his facial injuries
Presgrove’s body was found about a mile north along the highway from the small street where the party was held
The shorts he was wearing were undamaged, despite the grazes on his buttocks.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol, which is leading the investigation, two weeks ago gave its first update since last September.
‘Currently, the OHP is not investigating Presgrove’s death as a murder,’ it said.
‘The investigation is not over, and anyone with information on Presgrove’s death is encouraged to contact [us].’
This was despite friends and family who saw his body saying his badly battered face ‘looked like he got beat up by five dudes’.
Not investigating the teen’s death as a murder does not mean police have ruled out manslaughter, and detectives are considering competing theories.
‘We would like to publicly thank the team that are working in unison tirelessly to navigate what has always been called as a suspicious death, not a murder which is killing by premeditation,’ Presgrove’s family said in a statement.
‘We understand everyone’s frustrations more so than anyone. However, we ask that everyone be mindful of their dedication and perseverance in finding answers.’
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation called Presgrove’s death ‘suspicious’ in the days after his body was found.
OHP’s announcement came hours after the medical examiner finally revealed his cause of death in a one-page summary of the now-released report.
Presgove’s best friend Jack Newton, who was at the party but claimed he was asleep when he disappeared, said it was his ATV that was in the accident.
‘All of all close friends said that he wrecked my SXS I had there around 3,’ he wrote in a message to another friend.
‘And he was super dirty and super drunk so a couple of girls helped him in the shower.’
Confronting photos of police chalk outlines showed where his body, marked by the white line, and at least one of his teeth, marked by the circle, were found
Presgrove’s body was found between the two chalk lines, and teeth within the circles. In the background is a memorial set up for the teenager
Farther away still is a spot of blood – the only blood found at the scene despite the extensive injuries all over his upper body
Presgrove’s family said they were confused by the reference to his ‘girlfriend’ as he was single.
Newton explained this in the same conversation: ‘When he got out [of the shower] he wanted to sleep in one of the girls’ bed and she [said no and] that upset him and he walked off.’
During the same conversation, the other friend asked how Presgrove got the horrific injuries he suffered to his face that appeared to be from a beating.
‘Bro, everyone that saw Noah at the viewing, including me, saw his face was beat up bad,’ he wrote in a message shared with DailyMail.com.
‘I know what a beat up face looks like. Definitely not just me saying that. Everyone that saw him said that.
‘Looks like he got beat up by five dudes.’
Other people who saw his body said it looked like his nose and cheek were broken.
The damage to his face was in addition to other injuries to the back of his head and upper body Presgrove suffered, and added fuel to fears he was murdered.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol detectives, who are leading the investigation, are still unsure how he died, and were told conflicting stories about that night.
Theories include him being ‘forcibly pushed from the bed of a moving truck’ where the blood spot was, and staggering along the road before collapsing.
Presgrove could also have been killed in an accident or murdered elsewhere and his body dumped on the highway.
The blood spot was dozens of feet away from the body, which is opposite the cross
Another concerning photo appears to show a teenager holding a rifle with Presgrove visible in the foreground
Presgrove (left) poses with a friend on the Sunday night of the party hours before his death
Initial belief that he was killed in a hit-and-run was ruled out based on the pattern of his injuries that didn’t include any damage to his lower body.
Confronting photos of police chalk outlines showed his teeth were found scattered across the highway, some a dozen feet from his body.
Farther away still is a spot of blood – the only blood found at the scene despite the extensive injuries all over his upper body.
Presgrove and his friends graduated from Comanche High School just a few months earlier and his family said he planned to join the military.
But that weekend they were drunkenly celebrating the end of summer with a raging party at the birthday girl’s home, on a small street about a mile south from where his body was found, detailed in videos obtained by DailyMail.com.
One video from the night he died showed some of Presgrove’s friends writing their names on his bare buttocks with marker.
The writing was not still there when his body was discovered in the early hours of the morning but it was not known how and when it was removed.
Other photos show the teenager writing on the buttocks of another friend, and posing alongside them with a signature on his chest.
Two more videos show Presgrove daring friends to slap him across the face as they partied under an outside patio at the house.
Presgrove’s (left) family complained his friends all claimed to have no idea what happened to him and how he ended up dead by the roadside just hours later
One video from the night he died showed some of Presgrove’s friends writing their names on his bare buttocks with marker
Presgrove’s aunt Robyn Smith (center) and grandmother Deborah Smith (right) appealed for answers more than seven months after his death
Presgrove had to repeatedly insist that a male friend hit him, eventually only giving him a light tap before sprinting away in fear of retaliation.
Another concerning photo appeared to show a teenager holding a rifle with Presgrove visible in the foreground.
His family complained his friends all claimed to have no idea what happened to him and how he ended up dead by the roadside just hours later.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation described his death as ‘suspicious’ days later, but few details have been released about the investigation.
Even Presgrove’s family said they were in the dark and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol refused to provide any details to maintain the ‘integrity of the investigation’.
‘The longer you keep the truth inside, the guiltier you become… you could aid in getting justice for Noah,’ his sister Madison Rawlings said.
‘You could do the right thing and may receive a mercy that was not given to him, but the longer we sit in silence, the worse it becomes for you.
‘I hope those involved see that we are not budging and the silence fuels our desire to know more.
‘I miss Noah daily. This is the hardest chapter of my life, but I am thankful that I have a family that will not give up on each other.’
His family said all they were told is that he suffered head trauma, but were not sure if that was his cause of death
Presgrove and his friends graduated from Comanche High School just a few months earlier and his family said he planned to join the military
Presgrove’s grandmother Deborah Smith also called on his friends to tell the whole story about what happened the night he died.
‘When you think you have friends that you trust with all your heart and then here it comes. Sorry Noah that some of your true friends stabbed you in the back,’ she said.
‘A piece of my heart is missing and every day that goes by and Noah doesn’t walk through the door and still no answer just takes another piece of my heart.’
His aunt Robyn Smith begged anyone with information to at least tell the police so his family would have answers seven months later.
‘We lost an amazing young man to the horrible choices of others, please do not let us lose out on justice,’ she said.
‘We’ve heard so many different stories, but we have yet to hear the truth. The whole truth. Which we deserve.
‘I know it’s scary and I know it’s hard, but we deserve to know what happened. Noah deserves to have his story told. We will not stop searching and asking. We will not stop demanding. It will come out.’