On Labor Day 2023, as the mystery surrounding the death of Oklahoma teen military candidate Noah Pressgrove remains a mystery, forensic experts unravel the medical examiner’s latest findings and confirm that 19-year-old He shared his theory about the cause of death.
Dr. Michael Baden, an American physician and forensic pathologist known for his high-profile death investigations, told Fox News Digital that Ms. Pressgrove’s death was a terrible incident and that the coroner’s report Mr Pressgrove said many details about the night he died had come to light.
“He had a lot of internal bleeding, so his heart continued to beat for a while after the impact. But it’s possible that he had a hole in his lung from the ATV accident and was bleeding slowly. And then he was walking on the highway, he started bleeding so badly that he collapsed, and then he got hit by a truck and was seriously injured, and that’s when he went back to the party. A lot will depend on the state of things,” Baden said.
Pressgrove was found dead on Labor Day 2023 in a rural area off Route 81 in Jefferson County. Pressgrove was last seen alive that night at a party with a group of his friends, but nearly a year later, his family says he was “not alive.” One person came forward and told how they ended up along the highway.
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Nearly eight months after the death of Oklahoma teen Noah Presgrove, his family is still searching for answers about his death. (Robin Smith)
“My family is strong, but today is tough. We all miss him so much. No one has come out with any new information, so it’s a waiting game,” Noah said. ‘s sister, Madison Rawlings, told FOX News Digital.
Further investigation determined that Mr. Pressgrove had been drinking at a house party, where he was involved in an ATV rollover accident, according to the coroner’s full report. An investigation revealed that Pressgrove had returned to the party after the ATV incident where he had gotten into an argument with his girlfriend.
“No one has come forward with new or different information, so we’re just waiting.”
“That’s the only thing that is consistent among the partygoers’ stories. Everyone we spoke to claims he was perfectly fine, although there was certainly a loss. “I don’t know who his girlfriend is yet,” Rawlings said.
“Honestly, I don’t know what to believe. Do I think they killed him on purpose? No. Do I think they were drunk and got into a fight with him? Yes…” Noah’s best friend Hayden’s mother, Kristen Smith, told Fox News Digital. Smith shares the same birthday as Noah, who turns 20 on Tuesday.
Mr Baden said Mr Pressgrove may not have realized he was seriously injured due to the level of alcohol in his system.
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Noah Presgrove’s body was found along an Oklahoma highway on Labor Day 2023, but the cause of his death is still unknown. (Madison Rawlings/Kristen Smith)
“The question would be whether he had serious injuries, like internal bleeding from the ATV, and he was so intoxicated that he couldn’t even think about going to the hospital or the doctor or anything like that,” Baden said.
Mr Baden said it was believed a large amount of alcohol had been consumed at the party, and as most of Mr Pressgrove’s injuries were internal, other people at the party were injured when Mr Pressgrove returned. He said he may not have even realized he was injured.
“They attributed whatever difference in his appearance to the drinking and not to the ATV injury. There was no way he was going to collapse or cause anything until there was enough internal bleeding.” It must have been a small leak, a small tear in the lung,” Baden said.
“Because the only thing that could cause this much damage to his head and spine would be a car wheel coming on top of him, or a truck, maybe a truck, maybe falling to the ground. And I think he was one of those things.” He was walking down the highway, bleeding internally and drunk, and he collapsed and was lying there on the side of the road when a car came by. I hit him on the head. ”
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Noah Presgrove, 19, was wearing only his shoes when his body was found on a desolate Route 81 near Teral, Oklahoma, on Labor Day 2023. (Kristen Smith)
Mr Baden added that, judging by his blood alcohol level, Mr Pressgrove may not have even realized how hurt he was.
“So one of the effects of alcohol is that it’s a narcotic. And alcohol can mask the pain caused by a broken bone or a lacerated lung,” Baden says.
He said after reading the full coroner’s report, he believed the car accident contributed to Mr Pressgrove’s death.
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The cause of 19-year-old Oklahoma boy Noah Pressgrove’s death is still unknown nearly a year later. (Madison Rawlings/Kristen Smith)
Although authorities have classified Pressgrove’s manner of death as “unknown,” Baden said she believes the circumstances surrounding Pressgrove’s death are “consistent with a hit and run.”
“If someone hit him, stopped and looked at him, and drove off without doing anything…that’s a hit-and-run. That could be a homicide. So they’re hesitant to classify it as an accident or a homicide. Either,” Baden said. “This is a very sad incident… but it’s consistent with a hit-and-run situation in that someone hit him and didn’t stop.”
Pressgrove recently graduated from high school three months early and was scheduled to join his cousin in the military.
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Baden, host of HBO’s “Autopsy” series, served as New York City’s chief medical examiner from 1978 to 1979. He has also been involved in some of the most high-profile civil rights and police brutality cases in U.S. history. The government is reinvestigating the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1976 to the death of Michael Brown in 2014, a case that sparked the first Ferguson protests and then the Black Lives Matter movement. developed.
