Southwest
Oklahoma authorities 'hesitant' to rule teen's death a homicide, famed pathologist suggests
As mystery surrounds the 2023 Labor Day death of Oklahoma teen military hopeful Noah Presgrove, a forensics expert broke down the medical examiner’s most recent findings and shared his theory on what caused the 19-year-old’s death.
Dr. Michael Baden, an American physician and board-certified forensic pathologist known for his work investigating high-profile deaths, told Fox News Digital that Presgrove’s death is a terrible case and that the medical examiner’s report revealed many details surrounding the night he died.
“He had a lot of internal bleeding. So, his heart kept pumping for a little bit after he was struck. But if there’s a possibility that in an ATV accident, he might have a punctured lung and was bleeding slowly. And then, as he’s walking along the highway, the bleeding gets worse, and he collapses, and then a truck hits him and causes all the injuries, on that account. But that would a lot depend on what his condition was when he gets back to the party,” Baden said.
Presgrove was found dead along a rural stretch of US-81 in Jefferson County on Labor Day in 2023. He was last seen alive at a party he attended with a group of friends that night, but nearly a year later, the family says that no one has come forward and told them how he ended up along the highway.
OKLAHOMA TEEN MILITARY HOPEFUL’S FAMILY ‘CAN’T IMAGINE’ HE WAS MURDERED, OFFERS THEORY ABOUT HIS LAST HOURS
Nearly eight months after the death of Oklahoma teen Noah Presgrove, the family is still searching for answers about this death. (Robyn Smith)
“My family is strong, but today is hard. We all miss him deeply. No one new has stepped out with different information, so it’s a waiting game,” Noah’s sister, Madison Rawlings, told Fox News Digital.
According to the medical examiner’s full report, after further investigation, it was determined that Presgrove was drinking at a house party where he was involved in an ATV rollover incident. The investigation revealed that Presgrove returned to the party where he got into an argument with his girlfriend after the ATV incident.
“No one new has stepped out with different information, so it’s a waiting game.”
“That is the only part of the party-goers’ stories that match. Each one that we have had the opportunity to talk to claims that a wreck did happen, but he was completely fine; still not sure on who the girlfriend is,” Rawlings said.
“I don’t know what to believe, honestly. Do I think they intentionally killed him? No. Do I think they were drunk and got into a fight with him? Yes …,” Kristen Smith, the mother of Noah’s best friend, Hayden, told Fox News Digital. Smith shares a birthday with Noah, who would turned 20 on Tuesday.
Baden said that due to the level of alcohol in Presgrove’s system, he may not have even been aware that he was severely injured.
CAUSE OF DEATH DETERMINED FOR OKLAHOMA TEEN MILITARY HOPEFUL FOUND ON SIDE OF ROAD
Noah Presgrove’s body was found along an Oklahoma highway on Labor Day in 2023, and the manner of his death is still unknown. (Madison Rawlings/Kristen Smith)
“The issue would be if he had any significant injuries from the ATV, such as internal bleeding. And he’s too intoxicated to think of going to a hospital or a doctor or something,” Baden said.
With the amount of alcohol believed to have been consumed at the party, Baden said the others at the party may not have even realized Presgrove was hurt when he returned, since his injuries were mostly internal.
“They assumed whatever differences of appearance he had was because he was drinking and not because of the ATV injury, which would not have caused him to collapse or anything until enough internal bleeding had occurred, since it was a small leak, a small laceration to the lung,” Baden said.
“Because the only thing that could cause the extent of the injuries to his head and spine would be a car wheel coming over him, you know, or a truck, more likely a truck and probably on the ground. And I think either he was internally bleeding and intoxicated, walking along the highway, and he collapses, and he’s lying there, and the vehicle comes and hits him in the head while he’s on the side of the road.”
NORTH CAROLINA SEARCH WARRANT SHEDS LIGHT ON MYSTERIOUS THERAPY CAMP DEATH OF 12-YEAR-OLD BOY
Noah Presgrove, 19, was wearing only his shoes when his body was discovered on a desolate stretch of US-81 near Terral, Oklahoma, on Labor Day of 2023. (Kristen Smith)
Baden added that Presgrove may not have even realized how hurt he was based on his blood alcohol level.
“So, the one thing alcohol does, it’s an anesthetic agent. And it can cover up pain caused by broken bones or a lacerated lung,” Baden said.
He said after reading the full medical examiner’s report, he believes an auto incident contributed to Presgrove’s death.
JAMES PATTERSON’S NEW TRUE-CRIME SERIES TO SPOTLIGHT 3 RIVETING UNSOLVED MURDER MYSTERIES
What led to the death of 19-year-old Oklahoma teen Noah Presgrove is still not known nearly a year later. (Madison Rawlings/Kristen Smith)
Authorities classified Presgrove’s manner of death as “undetermined,” though Baden says he believes the circumstances surrounding the teen’s death are “consistent with a hit-and-run.”
“If somebody struck him, stopped, looked at him and didn’t do anything about it and took off … that’s a hit-and-run. That could be a homicide kind of thing. So, they’re hesitant to classify it either as an accident or a homicide,” Baden said. “It’s a very sad case … but it’s consistent with a hit-and-run situation being that somebody hit him and didn’t stop.”
Presgrove had recently graduated from high school three months early with plans to enlist in the military alongside his cousin.
Baden, the host of HBO’s “Autopsy” series, was the chief medical examiner of New York City 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, from the government’s 1976 re-investigation of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. to the 2014 death of Michael Brown, whose case sparked the initial Ferguson protests that grew into the Black Lives Matter movement.
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Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
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A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
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