The brother of an Oklahoma teen who was mysteriously found dead on the side of a highway says he fears someone is covering up what really happened to the 19-year-old.
Noah Presgrove was wearing only his shoes when his body was discovered on a deserted stretch of US-81 near Terral, Oklahoma on September 4.
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.
An autopsy ruled Noah’s cause of death was trauma to the head and police said his death was no longer being investigated as a homicide, but the teen’s family feels they are still looking for answers.
Speak with NewsNation Prime On Sunday, Noah’s brother Dailen Presgrove said he believed it was an accident or “some other sinister situation that is now being covered up.”
Noah Presgrove, 19, was wearing only his shoes when his body was discovered on September 4 on a deserted stretch of US-81 near Terral, Oklahoma.
Noah’s brother Dailen Presgrove said he believed it was an accident or “some other sinister situation that is now being covered up.”
“With some of those injuries, it just doesn’t seem possible that he would have fallen out of a car,” Dailen said.
“There were no tire tracks on the street, there were no car parts on the side of the road, his teeth were right there next to his face.
“If he had been hit by a car going 65 to 75 miles per hour, it just doesn’t make sense that the situation would have turned out the way it did.”
Dailen urged anyone with information about Noah’s death to come forward.
“Whether it’s your own story or a friend’s story, we please encourage you to reach out to us, to the OHP, to… anyone, just reach out to them with a message,” urged Dailen urges the community to do so.
“As time goes by and these interviews keep playing, I know it must be eating them up inside.”
Photos of police chalk outlines showed Noah’s teeth were found scattered on the highway, about 30 feet from his body.
A bloodstain can still be seen further away – the only blood found at the scene, despite the extensive wounds all over his upper body.
Noah suffered severe trauma to the back of his head, causing skull fractures but not killing him, according to correspondence with investigators shared with DailyMail.com.
“It’s strange,” the teen’s sister, Madison Rawlings, told PEOPLE. ‘I see the injuries, I just don’t know how [they were] causes.’
An autopsy found the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, but the teen’s family (pictured with his sister) said they are still looking for answers.
Although his cause of death has been determined, his cause of death remains under investigation, but officials have ruled out that he was struck by a vehicle.
After nearly eight months of silence, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, which is leading the investigation, finally provided its first update since last September.
“Currently, the OHP is not investigating Presgrove’s death as a homicide,” the report said.
“The investigation is not over and anyone with information regarding Presgrove’s death is encouraged to get in touch [us].’
This was despite friends and family seeing his body saying his badly damaged face ‘looked like he had been beaten up by five guys’, DailyMail.com exclusively reported.
“No vehicle parts or debris were observed at the scene. “It is unknown at this time what happened to how the body was found on the road with multiple injuries,” the autopsy report said.
“Therefore, the manner of death is considered undetermined.”
Only one bloodstain was found at the scene, despite extensive injuries all over his upper body
The report’s summary also vaguely explained some of the events leading up to Presgrove’s disappearance and discovery on the highway.
‘He then rode with a number of men in an ATV ranger vehicle, during which a rollover incident occurred. The deceased was alive after the incident and returned to the party where he got into an argument with his girlfriend,” it said.
“The deceased left the house party and was not found on the side of the highway until the morning of September 4, 2023.”
Noah and his friends graduated from Comanche High School a few months early, and his family said he planned to join the military.
But that weekend, they drunkenly celebrated the end of summer with a wild party at the birthday boy’s home, on a small street about a mile south of where his body was found, as described in videos obtained by DailyMail.com.
Video from the night he died showed some of Presgrove’s friends writing on his body with a marker
A photo from the party appears to show a teenager holding a gun, while Presgrove is visible in the foreground
A video from the night he died showed some of Noah’s friends writing their names on his bare buttocks with a marker.
The writing was no longer there when his body was discovered in the early morning hours, but it was not known how or when it was removed.
Other photos show the teen writing on another friend’s buttocks and posing next to them with an autograph on his chest.
Two more videos show Noah daring friends to punch him in the face as they partied under an outdoor patio at the house.
Noah had to repeatedly insist that a male friend hit him, eventually giving him only a light slap before sprinting away for fear of retaliation.
Another worrying photo showed a teenager holding a gun, with Noah visible in the foreground.