The family of the teen found dead on the side of an Oakland highway is raising money to hire a private investigator as they mourn his death on his birthday.
Noah Presgrove, 19, was wearing only two mismatched shoes when his body was discovered on September 4 on a deserted stretch of US-81 near Terral, Oklahoma.
He was last seen alive about a mile away during a four-day 22nd birthday party with friends over Labor Day weekend that was extensively documented on social media.
On Tuesday, his loved ones celebrated his twentieth birthday at his grave.
Images showed a cutout of Presgrove placed in the ground next to balloons, while a ‘Happy Birthday’ sign was fixed in the ground.
A ‘Happy Birthday’ sign was fixed in the ground, while a cutout of Presgrove was placed in the ground next to balloons
Presgrove’s family celebrated the beloved teen’s birthday by spending the day at his grave
His brother Dailen Presgrove has now launched a GoFundMe page to hire a private investigator to solve his young brother’s mysterious death.
The crowdfunding page is intended to help the family hire a detective with law enforcement background and experience so they can look at the case with “new eyes.”
‘This fundraiser is intended to raise money to hire a private investigator who can solve the case surrounding the death of Noah Presgrove. Private investigators are very expensive,” he explained.
“With the many of us working eagerly on the case over the past eight months, we have already put in tremendous hours into the case.
‘We are looking for new eyes for the case and preferably someone with a law enforcement background and experience in this genre.’
The GoFundMe exceeded its goal by raising $10,322 after receiving an anonymous donation of $5,000.
Dailen has also launched a GoFundMe worth as much as $10,000 to encourage anyone “withholding information about the case” to come forward.
The 19-year-old was found dead on a deserted highway on September 4
“Noah Presgrove passed away eight months ago. Yet the case remains unsolved.
‘To prevent this case from falling to a standstill, this fundraiser is designed to encourage those who are withholding information about the case to come forward.
“If anyone has information about the case that will lead to the arrest of anyone held responsible, please contact the family to redeem this reward and ultimately end this ongoing investigation.”
‘Your identity remains hidden from the public. We put you in touch with the right people who want justice.’
The fundraiser has raised $2,395 at the time of publication.
The Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Leonardo Roquero has confirmed that Presgrove died of “multiple blunt force injuries,” but how he suffered them was “undetermined.”
Yesterday, the Oklahoma Office of Chief Medical Examiner Leonardo Roquero finally released the full autopsy report, more than eight months later.
Roquero confirmed Presgrove died of “multiple blunt force injuries,” but how he suffered them was “undetermined.”
The report provided more details about the horrific injuries the teenager suffered in the hours before he died.
Roquero described extensive injuries to the teen’s upper body, including 10 broken ribs, severe skull and neck fractures, internal bleeding and abrasions throughout his body.
There was one extensive skull fracture across his head, “which split the middle base of the skull in two,” and several smaller ones, with police investigators describing his head as “collapsed,” along with more disparate lacerations.
Presgrove had approximately 20 ml of blood in his head due to a cerebral hemorrhage and damage to the brain itself.
Presgrove’s family (pictured with his sister Madison Rawling) were confused by aspects of the report but said they had confidence in the investigation
A video from the Saturday night of the party, September 2, showed Presgrove’s friends drawing their names and other scribbles on his body.
He went home and washed some of it off, but it is believed he was not able to get all the marker off before returning to the party the next night.
One Adidas shoe Presgrove was wearing belonged to him, and the other, a “Hey Dude” slip-on, belonged to another party guest who was asleep at the time.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol detectives, who are leading the investigation, still don’t know how he died and have been told conflicting stories about that night.
Theories include that he was “forcefully pushed out of the back of a moving truck” where the bloodstain was, and staggered across the road before collapsing.
Presgrove could also have been killed in an accident or murdered somewhere else and his body dumped on the highway.
