Teen death at Whitman?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More detail from the father.
https://wtop.com/maryland/2017/12/bethesda-father-who-pulled-his-sons-body-from-a-ravine-recalls-his-last-night/

Seeems like a lot of holes in this story. The father says he believes his son purchased a bottle of vodka at a store on River Road - this is not possible since you can only buy liquor at the County stores in MoCo.

Jesus Christ. What interest do you have in discrediting a grieving father?

There's a Liquor Store on River Road in Potomac. Not right next to where this kid lived, but also no more than 4 miles away. I know from experience that teens will drive 4 miles to get to a liquor store that doesn't card minors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The part that does not add up is him declining an Uber ride with friends to presumably walk home from the 7-11, which is a 45 minute walk on a freezing cold Saturday night.

I'm confused. Now his friends are saying that they left him in the 7-11 parking lot and took an Uber home which the boy declined? From there he presumably walked alone to the woods near the swimming club, fell in the little pond and drowned face up?

That is the story his father is telling.

Also, he drowned but only blood and alcohol came up during CPR?

He was drinknig vodka which is claer. How could they tell between vodka and water?

[Anonymous]

He probably didn't want to go home because he was drunk and would get in trouble, but why wouldn't he have gone to a friend's house?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The part that does not add up is him declining an Uber ride with friends to presumably walk home from the 7-11, which is a 45 minute walk on a freezing cold Saturday night.

I'm confused. Now his friends are saying that they left him in the 7-11 parking lot and took an Uber home which the boy declined? From there he presumably walked alone to the woods near the swimming club, fell in the little pond and drowned face up?

Thanks, Sherlock, but there is actually a private liquar store on River in MoCo; in fact, it was where we bought our liquor underage 30 years ago. I'll not name it because there are probably other places to buy as well. I can think of several non-ABC stores in the Bethesda area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The friends that were with him are likely extremely upset by all of this. I hope that the attention turns from questioning to helping them work through this and helping to change the way the kids approach these sorts of situations.

I think we need to lower the drinking age back to the age of 18 or 19 and say that HS drinking is not o.k. Ever.

You watch out for my kid, I'll watch out for your kid.

I agree with this actually. I think the fact that the drinking age is 21 (or the age most kids don't reach until junior/senior year of college) means it is seen as pretty much a joke and not taken seriously by most. Sure there are some kids who won't drink in college, but for those who make that choice it has NOTHING to do with the law. Everyone knows kids party in college, starting with the first weekend of freshman year - the schools know, parents know, kids know...it's not even a question, and the legality never really comes into the discussion. Trying to stop freshmen / sophomores / juniors from drinking at college is such a ridiculous premise that no one even tries; it's going to happen. Nobody takes the drinking age of 21 seriously, it's just preposterous. It should be pushed back to a realistic age (18.) and more aggressively enforced. Changes would not happen instantly, but I think we'd see a good trend over several decades.

You hear people who grew up in the 50s/60s all the time say how it just wasn't a big mystified deal back then

+1 This times a million.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The part that does not add up is him declining an Uber ride with friends to presumably walk home from the 7-11, which is a 45 minute walk on a freezing cold Saturday night.

I'm confused. Now his friends are saying that they left him in the 7-11 parking lot and took an Uber home which the boy declined? From there he presumably walked alone to the woods near the swimming club, fell in the little pond and drowned face up?

Thanks, Sherlock, but there is actually a private liquar store on River in MoCo; in fact, it was where we bought our liquor underage 30 years ago. I'll not name it because there are probably other places to buy as well. I can think of several non-ABC stores in the Bethesda area.

Actually, Sherlock there isn't. Give the name and address.

[Anonymous]

Maybe he went into the woods to pee and fell and passed out? I bet the autopsy shows some kind of injury.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The part that does not add up is him declining an Uber ride with friends to presumably walk home from the 7-11, which is a 45 minute walk on a freezing cold Saturday night.

I'm confused. Now his friends are saying that they left him in the 7-11 parking lot and took an Uber home which the boy declined? From there he presumably walked alone to the woods near the swimming club, fell in the little pond and drowned face up?

Thanks, Sherlock, but there is actually a private liquar store on River in MoCo; in fact, it was where we bought our liquor underage 30 years ago. I'll not name it because there are probably other places to buy as well. I can think of several non-ABC stores in the Bethesda area.

eh, we were actually discussing the possibility that his friends left the 7-11 parking lot in an Uber and the boy declined to go with them for some reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe he went into the woods to pee and fell and passed out? I bet the autopsy shows some kind of injury.

I don't know but I sure hope his parents get answers. What an horrific way to find your child. Those poor people.

[Anonymous]

Maybe stupid ass kids need to stop consuming alcohol,
or more of their "friends" will die.

[Anonymous]

Stupid ass kids have been consuming alcohol in high school for last 40 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The issue is that he had alcohol (where did he get it) and chose to drink it. The question remains how/why he got separated from his friends.

Well they were likely drinking too so you don't exactly have a group of good decision makers at work here. Everyone involved had the best of intentions (I suppose besides whoever provided the booze to the kids) and if anyone had any idea that it would end this way would have absolutely done things differently. If he really thought he was risking his life doing this he probably wouldn't have been drinking. We as parents put so much effort into "don't drink and drive" that maybe the kids overlook the other risks and like someone else said, most of the time it all ends well.

It's possible the kids swiped a bottle or two from their parents bar. Maybe no one purposefully supplied them with alcohol. Maybe no one is to blame.

Yes, the kid shouldn't have been drinking but, as others have pointed out, but for the grace of God...

Doubt it. Parents don't have flask size bottle of vodka in their house. The bottle fit in his jacket. There are laws about selling alcohol and the person that supplied the alcohol is liable for their part in this mess. So are the cops that did not do their job.

Gotta love legal analysis from someone who obviously is not a lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stupid ass kids have been consuming alcohol in high school for last 40 years.

Why only 40?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They were all drinking and drunk. They are all responsible for making the decision to go out and drink that night without a plan for dealing with the potential consequences or a even a thought that any one of them could die. The alcohol didn't get into them forcibly. They made a choice. That choice had consequences. Now they will need help dealing with the consequences. It's a tragedy and someone's son and brother died. Yes. They are all to blame.

The kid is to blame for drinking. His "friends" are asses for not calling his dad/mom if their drunk friend refuses a safe ride home. But they're still not to blame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They were all drinking and drunk. They are all responsible for making the decision to go out and drink that night without a plan for dealing with the potential consequences or a even a thought that any one of them could die. The alcohol didn't get into them forcibly. They made a choice. That choice had consequences. Now they will need help dealing with the consequences. It's a tragedy and someone's son and brother died. Yes. They are all to blame.

The kid is to blame for drinking. His "friends" are asses for not calling his dad/mom if their drunk friend refuses a safe ride home. But they're still not to blame.

Of course the other kids there carry some responsibility.
Sorry if your kid was one of them.