Noah Presgrove: Oklahoma teen found dead was 'likely beaten by group, body moved and dumped' after 4-day party with friends

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

TERRAL, OKLAHOMA: Noah Presgrove, 19, was only wearing his two mismatched shoes when his body was discovered on September 4, 2023, on a desolate stretch of US-81 in Terral, Oklahoma, mere hours after he vanished from a four-day party with friends.

Likely, the teenager was fatally beaten by a group, with his body subsequently relocated and dumped on a highway, asserted a doctor.

Insights into Noah Presgrove's injuries

Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner Leonardo Roquero's ruling of Presgrove's cause of death as "multiple blunt force injuries" but how he got them was "undetermined."

Dr Stuart Fischer, an internist doctor who reviewed the autopsy report, described the injuries as catastrophic and indicative of a severe beating. The extensive injuries, 10 broken ribs, including skull, neck, spine fractures, internal bleeding, and organ damage, point towards a sustained and brutal assault.

"The poor kid never had a chance, these [injuries] are not amenable to surgery at all, not at the same time," he alleged. "There are five and possibly up to 10 potentially life-ending injuries, it's not just one."

Moreover, he sustained a significant skull fracture extending across his head, "splitting the middle base of the skull into two," accompanied by several smaller fractures. Police investigators described his head as appearing "caved in," along with additional assorted lacerations.

He had approximately 20 milliliters, equivalent to 0.68 ounces, of blood, accumulated within his skull due to a brain hemorrhage, coupled with damage to four distinct areas of the brain.

Expert opinion raises questions about singular culprit

Dr Fischer expressed doubt that a single individual could have inflicted all of Presgrove's injuries, as they far surpassed what was necessary to cause his death unless it was a "crime of passion."

"This is very unusual for air to enter the skull," Dr Fischer, author of the Little Book of Big Medical Emergencies, claimed. "My guess would be injury by several different things at the same time, namely several different people at the same time," reported Daily Mail.

"They would have had to keep going a lot longer than needed - like those cases where people are stabbed 50 times... it's very difficult to break a skull," he remarked. Regarding Presgrove's broken neck, specifically the displacement of his C1 vertebra, Dr Fischer suggested that it could have been fatal on its own, likening it to "when someone is hanged by a rope."

However, the absence of significant blood pools at the crime scene raises suspicions that Presgrove's body may have been moved after the fatal attack. "Well, maybe the body was moved. There would be pools of blood and if you're not seeing that, an explanation could be that's what happened," he stated.

"If you're hit with enough force to crack a skull and cause a basal skull fracture, you would think there's something at the scene that's more than a paper cut. But if there's nothing, it could mean the body was moved." Roquero noted in his report that Presgrove exhibited bleeding from his ears, a characteristic often associated with a basal skull fracture, as confirmed by Dr Fischer.

Investigation casts doubt on pickup truck theory in Noah Presgrove's death

Police are also examining another prominent theory, suggesting that Presgrove either fell or was pushed from the rear of a pickup truck, resulting in him striking his head on the roadway. "It's possible," Dr Fischer said, but the lack of serious injuries to the victim's lower body, inconsistent with a fall or being pushed from a vehicle.

"If he was thrown from a car, you might get the body rolling and therefore injuries throughout the whole body as opposed to it being confined to one area. Even if he hit the road head first, it would distribute the injuries up and down the body... he'd have broken legs [from rolling on the road]."

Dr Fischer indicated that Presgrove faced the risk of bleeding to death due to his injuries, alongside compromised breathing resulting from his torso wounds. "He would have died very quickly, in minutes. Not seconds, there would be lots of blood," he explained. Presgrove sustained punctures to both lungs and internal injuries to vital organs such as the heart, spleen, and stomach, with internal bleeding amounting to at least 1,550 milliliters, equivalent to approximately 3.2 pints.

Considering Presgrove's body size, typically holding around 12.6 pints of blood, losing half of it would typically result in death, although even a third could prove fatal. The skin on the left side of his scalp had been torn down to the bone, and a clump of hair and skin was discovered in the center of the highway. "Additionally, a clump of hair was observed on the right buttock without blood or tissue," as noted by Roquero.

Noah Presgrove's body exhibited road rash but no vehicle debris found

Both his upper and lower teeth were broken, "with few fragments and found inside the mouth" and others scattered across the road several feet from his body. He was bleeding from his ears and had cuts on his lower lip and tongue. Presgrove had fractures to varying degrees in his C1, C2, C6, and C7 vertebrae, with C1 being displaced, indicating a severe neck injury.

He exhibited road rash on his upper back and abrasions from grazes on various parts of his body, including his left shoulder, left arm, left side of torso, and both buttocks. Additional grazes were observed on his left eyebrow, corner of the left eye and left cheek, left ear, right neck, and behind his right ear.

Presgrove also had healed abrasions and scabs on his nose, both hands and knuckles, left foot and heel, and a round healing ulcer on his right thigh, all of which predated the injuries sustained that night. Roquero noted that "no vehicle parts or debris were observed at the scene," suggesting that Presgrove was almost certainly not struck by a car.

"He was naked and was only wearing unmatched shoes. There was a pair of shorts found several feet from the decedent and was reported to be his," Roquero penned. "Additionally, there were three pieces of a white metal chain as well as part of a tooth present several feet from the decedent." Roquero also observed "a drawing in black ink of a stick-figure person on the side of the right thigh."

Noah Presgrove's family demands answers from his tight-lipped friends

Presgrove registered a blood alcohol level of 0.14, with no drugs detected in his system. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation labeled the teen's death as 'suspicious' in the days following the discovery of his body.

Even Presgrove's family acknowledged their lack of information, while the Oklahoma Highway Patrol declined to disclose any details to preserve the 'integrity of the investigation'. "The longer you keep the truth inside, the guiltier you become… you could aid in getting justice for Noah," expressed his sister Madison Rawlings.

"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."

Noah Presgrove family launches fundraiser for private investigator

Further, the family mourned Noah's death on Tuesday, May 15, for what have been his 20th birthday. In a poignant tribute at his gravesite, his loved ones placed a cutout of Noah surrounded by balloons and a 'Happy Birthday' sign, previously reported MEAWW.

Seeking closure, the victim's brother, Dailen Presgrove, initiated a GoFundMe campaign to finance a private investigator. The campaign has managed to raise $10,517 of the $8,000 goal. The description stated, "We are seeking new eyes on the case and preferably someone with law enforcement background and experience in this genre." Dailen launched another GoFundMe campaign with a goal of $10,000 "to encourage those withholding information of the case to come forth."