Family of Oklahoma teen Noah Presgrove speaks out 1 year after mysterious death
What led to the death of Oklahoma teen military hopeful Noah Presgrove remains a mystery one year after he was found dead on the side of an Oklahoma highway on Labor Day. His family is still hoping to gain answers about what happened to him.
"I've always just thought, I hope that he went fast. I hope that he wasn't in pain," Madison Rawlings, Presgrove's sister, told Fox News Digital. "And I hope that his death wasn't caused by someone you loved. That's about the only thing that I hope about his last moments; that he wasn't in pain, and it wasn't by someone who he deeply loved, but we don't really know that."
Presgrove, 19, 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 now, a year later, the family says that no one has come forward to tell them how he ended up dead along the highway.
"We are so tired and fed up with all of this already, and I get that a year is a long time, but a year is a short time too. But I know our sympathy for whoever knows something. It's non-existent. They've had plenty of time," Rawlings said.
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Rawlings, who spoke to Fox News Digital a few months after his death was reported, previously said she just hoped and prayed that whoever knew what happened to her brother would come forward, and they could forgive and move on.
Now, as a year has gone by with zero answers as to what led to her brother's death, she has changed her tune.
"I don't know if they are scared, or they feel like they're getting away with it, whichever way they look at it. But man, I wish that they would talk now. Because if we have to catch you, you people should realize that our family has worked this hard to find them, that, imagine having to push for them to get the punishment they deserve. So I hope that they hurry up and talk," Rawlings added.
Presgrove had recently graduated from high school, three months early, with plans to enlist in the military alongside his cousin.
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"I pray every day that the Lord will just reveal something to our law enforcement so that we can put this behind us, and we can work towards a new goal. I feel like whoever's done this, they feel like they're good, they're fun. No one can touch me. So I'm just ready for that sense of safety to go away," Rawlings said.
The medical examiner released the autopsy results to the Presgrove family in April, which the family shared with Fox News Digital. A medical examiner's report concluded that the manner of death is still unknown.
"In consideration of the circumstances surrounding the death, autopsy examination, and toxicology result, the death of Noah Alexander Nichols is due to multiple blunt force injuries. The decedent was found naked wearing only a pair of shoes on the side of a highway on the morning of September 4, 2023. There were no vehicle parts or debris observed on the scene. At this time, what transpired on how the body was found on the road having multiple blunt force injuries is unknown. Therefore, the manner of death is deemed undetermined," the report read.
"Further investigation revealed that the decedent was at a house party and drinking on September 3, 2023. Then he rode an ATV ranger vehicle with several men that had a roll over incident. The decedent was alive following the incident and returned to the party where he got into an argument with his girlfriend. The decedent left the house party and was not found until the morning of September 4, 2023, on the side of the highway," the report continued.
Fox News Digital obtained two 911 calls from motorists reporting what they first believed to be a deer lying on the side of the road, which was later determined to be human remains.
"It looks like someone got hit, like someone walking down the highway, they are lying on the shoulder in the road," a caller told the police dispatcher in one of the recordings. "Yeah, like on the shoulder, like maybe they were walking and somebody hit them. I thought it was a deer, but it looks like a body."
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The caller then told dispatch that the scene looked "awful odd."
Jefferson County Undersheriff Jimmy Williams issued a statement to Fox News Digital and shared his condolences with Presgrove's family.
"I, as Sheriff and the entire Sheriff's Office, offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Noah. This case has rested heavily on our hearts throughout the year. I am confident that OHP and OSBI will find resolve and answers for Noah. My office has been working with OHP consistently as information has surfaced throughout this year," he said.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation initially described Presgrove's death as "suspicious," though his official manner of death is "undetermined."
A spokesperson for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, which has taken over the investigation, told Fox News Digital the investigation is ongoing and would not comment further.
"You kind of get to wondering like how much longer? And with that, it's when or if it will come together," Rawlings said. "And we all are so hopeful, and we know that someone knows something, something has to happen. We want it to be solved so badly and as quickly as possible would be best. But we are thankful for any progress that we see."