So I got news that my best friend was in the icu because they had found her sitting next to a tiny bridge (it’s really a road built over a creek in town… so u get a better picture… it’s like a regular road except wit a side of concrete and just some metal railings on both ends) with a shoelace tied around her neck. I was also told that they had an ongoing investigation going on because the shoelace was also tied to the railing of the bridge but was not pulled tight so they r thinking she was strangled but set up to look like a suicide. Well she was in icu for 3 days then she ended up passing away. So I’m just curious if anyone could help me out wit any info they may have about how I can legally look up stuff like police records, or reports, or aptopsy report and info… anything? Or even just knows facts and info about strangulation… like how long would it have been for someone to find her for her to make it to the hospital for 3 days before dying. Anything that u think might help or set my mind at ease would b great! I’m just trying to wrap my head around all this and make some sense about what could’ve happened to her… the family (what little I know) is being real hush hush about it and there hasn’t been nothing on the news or in the papers. Im just trying to know and understand what happened to my friend!
What city was this in?
Regards,
Shodan
Police reports are usually public records with a significant exception being records of ongoing investigations can be withheld. You could make a Freedom of Information request to get copies of those records. And if the police choose to withhold release they would generally be required to provide a broad reason about what exception they are relying upon to withhold release.
Since they have already said an invesitgation is ongoing they likely would not release records at this time.
You could wait a period of time (it may take several months to complete an investigation) and make such an FOIA request. If they still refuse to release records that would let you indirectly confirm an ongoing investigation is still in progress if the police are not willing to update you.
I’ve known two people who tried poorly-executed plans to hang themselves in the past few years. In both cases, the result was similar to what you described, found still alive, taken to the hospital, but eventually dying a day or so later anyways. They managed to strangle long enough to cause brain damage, but not immediate death, but brain damage like that can be an on-going, accumulating problem. Another friend took a month to die after a cardiac arrest, because the initial brain damage caused him to have “microseizures”, which themselves caused more brain damage every time they happened.
The upshot of this is: it’s much harder to strangle to death than most people think.
St. Augustine Florida
Where do I go to do this or how do I even go about doing something like this? And what about autopsy reports… can u get a copy or anything of those?
St. Augustine Florida
First I was told that she hung herself then I was told the shoelace story… I just want answers!
Not to say anything about the facts of this event, but it is possible, and not that uncommon, to hang yourself this way. No need for actual suspension. A cord around the neck, tied to something solid, and just lean or slump down to tighten the ligature is enough.
My suggestion, not that I’ve ever had to deal with anything like this, would be to contact the police department and medical examiner’s office by phone (or in person if you are close enough to travel there). While I am sure, as someone who is not a next of kin, there is a lot they can’t reveal, they would I guess be tell you anything that is in the public domain (which is more than you could get on an online search).
Have you tried just going to the police and asking for them?
Consider hiring a private detective.
Notices user join date.
It really is remarkable how many people with unqiue tales of woe google message boards for fans of newspaper columnists who were popular thirty years ago to share their stories and ask for advice.
Just because the poster is new doesn’t mean there’s not a valid question here.
CuriousShenna, I can only imagine what you’re going through. I have had a friend die under ambiguous circumstances and I imagine you are completely overwhelmed with grief and the desire to know what really happened.
There have been some good suggestions made already. Maybe I can add a few.
First, don’t assume there’s something mysterious here, beyond whatever it was that may have driven your friend to take her own life. If the family is acting squirrelly, well, they just lost a loved one. That’s understandable.
Second, personal connections help. Do you know anyone anyone in local law enforcement, or in FL law enforcement in general? That person may be able to poke around and give you some indication of what’s going on.
Third, what about local news? Is there a local radio station/newspaper/website that may have covered this? Contact the reporter to see if they can help. Keep in mind they won’t want to spill all the details they know, especially if it’s an ongoing story, and they’ll want to protect their own relationships with local law enforcement. But you may get an indication of what’s going on. ETA: on rereading I see you said there’s been nothing in the news. I would still try to talk to whoever does the crime beat and see if they can help.
Finally, deep breath and be calm when you approach people. Police, coroners, reporters–they’re all used to upset people dealing with grief, with a raft of questions they can’t answer, and they are hardened to to it. Be polite, persistent, and don’t lose it.
Hope you find some answers, enough to help you deal with this loss better.
Florida has about the most aggressive laws in the US about actively releasing almost everything the police and government do. Which is why Florida so often features in “dumb criminal” or “crazy citizen” websites. Other states’ people do the same dumb shit at about the same rate, but the info is not routinely broadcast to the public via government websites.
The point is the OP may well have a lot more success simply calling the medical examiner’s office than we or they might expect.
The medical examiner’s office may well say they can’t release any info yet, but will next week or month. It’s hard to wait, but ultimately nothing is changing on this case; it’s over. Accept that there is an answer, and you’ll get it, but not just yet. Ten years from now, the extra week(s) of not knowing won’t matter to you a bit. What will matter is the final answer, whatever it turns out to be. And yes, there will always be room to doubt that the answer is the whole truth. Nothing about what other people do is ever known to 100% precision and certainty. Human nature is that we ignore the difference most of the time and have a bad habit of fixating on it in emotionally trying circumstances. You’ll be happier in the long run if you avoid falling into that trap.
Going to the case itself. …
It certainly looks like a garden-variety badly done suicide that still worked eventually. It’s hard to *almost *kill somebody, leave them unrestrained except for a shoelace, and have there be no obvious evidence of the earlier assault. The fact the person was under medical care for 3 days makes it real clear that any such evidence would have been noticed.
Given that she was alive when found that points, IMO, to about a 99.9% probability of it being a suicide. Had she been found dead at the culvert the odds of it being a murder would go from nearly zero to at least a few percent, net of whatever the police/medical examiner would learn examining the scene, the body, and the person’s life situation.
CuriousShenna, if this is a suicide, you may be able to think of things your friend did that didn’t make sense at the time but now fit into a pattern that would tend to confirm to you that it was suicide. For example, was she depressed for a long time? Did she seem to turn a corner and become relieved and serene? Did she have some kind of conversation with you, or with anybody else, that would make sense as a way of saying good bye, even though that wasn’t apparent at the time? Did she give away things that were personally important to her? I’m sure there are other signs, but those are the ones that I can think of at the moment. On the other hand, if you and everybody else you can talk to don’t recognize anything like that at all, then perhaps other explanations deserve more looking at (though suicide may still be the most likely explanation).
How did their ability to use their right and left hands equally well impact on the situation?
I think you may have confused the word ambiguous with ambidextrous.
I’m moderately ambivalent on that matter, but thank you anyway.
New member doesn’t mean it’s not legit but…
In an effort to help the OP locate some info I’ve scoured google for some info based on the given data points. Nothing in the news. Nothing in the police blotter. No obituaries or information from funeral home sites.
All that means nothing of course but it is curious.