Okla. Teen Noah Presgrove Survived ATV Incident, Returned to Party Before Mysterious Death, Full Autopsy Reveals
The full autopsy report provides new details about Noah Presgrove’s final hours
Courtesy of Madison Rawlings
Noah PresgroveNoah Presgrove, 19, was found dead on the side of the highway in Terral, Oklahoma on Sept. 4, 2023
His full autopsy report, which was obtained by PEOPLE, notes brain swelling and a fractured skull among his many injuries
"The report answers some questions but also raises many more," Noah’s brother, Dailen Presgrove, tells PEOPLE
The full autopsy report in the bizarre case of an Oklahoma teen found dead on the side of the highway on Sept. 4, 2023, provides new details about Noah Presgrove’s final hours.
According to the 9-page full autopsy report, which was obtained by PEOPLE, authorities said that "further investigation" revealed that Presgrove, 19, "was at a house party and drinking" on Sunday, Sept. 3 — and that after leaving at one point, he “rode an ATV ranger vehicle with several men that had a roll over incident."
Presgrove was still "alive following the incident" and then “returned to the party where he got into an argument," according to the narrative describing the circumstances of his death.
He then “left the house party” and was found dead the next morning on the Jefferson County highway by a passing truck driver at 5:53 a.m., per the full autopsy report.
But how he got there remains a mystery.
Courtesy of Madison Rawlings
Noah Presgrove (center) with his parents Victor Presgrove (left) and Kasey Elliot (right) at his wrestling team's senior night.In the full report, the medical examiner said that Noah died of “multiple blunt force injuries” to the head, neck, torso and extremities, enduring among a two-page list of injuries “swelling of the brain,” with multiple brain lacerations including on the cerebellum and temporal lobe, “basal skull fractures splitting the middle base of skull into two” parts and multiple rib fractures.
A molar tooth had broken in half and he had also sustained a “laceration on the left surface of the tongue,” along with four cervical neck fractures.
Madison Rawlings/GoFundMe
Noah Presgrove played football, ran track and cross-country and was on his high school's wrestling team.Related: Noah Presgrove’s Siblings Say His Autopsy Report 'Leaves a Lot of Things Up in the Air’
“At this time, what transpired on how the body was found on the road having multiple blunt force injuries is unknown,” medical examiner Leonardo Roquero wrote of his findings, in which the manner of Noah’s death remains “undetermined.” (The report lists Noah by the name Noah Alexander Nichols, using his mother’s maiden name.)
Presgrove, who was naked, was found wearing only mismatched shoes: an Adidas on his left and a Hey Dudes on his right, each with “grass and debris” clumped in the laces, per the autopsy report.
Courtesy of Madison Rawlings
Noah Presgrove“Three pieces of a white metal chain” and “part of a tooth” were several feet from his body, along with a pair of his white printed shorts, per the autopsy report. A clump of hair was in the highway lane, and another chunk of hair was on his right butt cheek “without blood or tissue.”
“A drawing in black ink of a stick-figure person” was also etched into the side of his right thigh.
Courtesy of Madison Rawlings
Noah Presgrove at the beach, in the summer of 2022.Related: Cause of Death Revealed for Noah Presgrove, Okla. Teen Found Dead on Highway Wearing Only Shoes
Oklahoma’s Department of Public Safety did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for an updated comment on May 13, but earlier this month police confirmed to PEOPLE in a statement that they are continuing to investigate the case, but are not investigating his death as a murder.
A toxicology report included with the autopsy report showed that forensic toxicologist Angelica Harper conducted a panel of drug tests for amphetamine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine, opiates, PCP, barbiturates, and benzodiazepines.
None of those drugs were detected in Noah's system, although alcohol was. Harper went on to note that the tests are not designed to detect oxycodone, methadone, or clonazepam.
Courtesy of Madison Rawlings
Noah Presgrove at his senior prom in the spring of 2023.Noah’s brother, Dailen Presgrove, tells PEOPLE that "the report answers some questions but also raises many more."
Months after graduating high school and with an eye on joining the military, Noah was described by family as a four-sport athlete and class clown well-liked in his small town. Emancipated at 17, Noah was living with his grandmother who helped raise him at the time of his death.
In the eight months since Noah’s death, rumors have swirled through the tight-knit county about the circumstances leading to Noah’s death — and Dailen, whose family has started a GoFundMe to cover the costs of hiring a private investigator, tells PEOPLE he doesn’t know what to believe.
“We’re still at square one,” Dailen says. “We desperately need more cooperation from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, and we’re looking to get an outsider experienced in these situations.”
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