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Body pulled from Charles River near North Station

UPDATE, 6:30 p.m.: WFXT reports the body was that of Michael Kelleher, 23, of Southborough.

State Police report they recovered "the deceased body of an adult male" around 9:10 a.m. from the Charles by the locks after a bypasser alerted them.

A preliminary identification has been made but official confirmation of that identification is pending. Until that time, State Police will not release the victim's identity.

Earlier this month, State Police searched that part of the Charles in a search for Michael Kelleher of Southborough, last seen after a Celtics game at the Garden in March.

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Comments

Michael Kelleher, family has confirmed.

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Very sad to hear.

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So sad.

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Condolences to loved ones.

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This is the second tragedy involving a young man attending an event at the Garden. They also had problems with their security staff brutalizing the homeless. They don't have these problems at Fenway or Patriots Place.

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How is the garden responsible for someone hurting themselves. This is a complete tragedy but the garden is certainly not to blame. My heart goes out to the family.

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Conspiracy theorists going crazy right now.

I am curious to know what the cause of death is. How the hell does a grown man stumble all the way around the back of the garden and fall into the river? Personally I don't see it. If you are in the Garden and have to piss there are bathrooms everywhere. There is no discernible reason, even when drunk, to walk your ass into the Charles River. I just don't get it.

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Yeah my facebook feed last night was filled up with "this has to be a serial killer"

I then paste a link to here from a week or so ago, where Adam kinda debunks that because people falling into waterways around Boston have been happening for a very long time.

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I doubt these are the work of a serial killer, but just because it's happened before doesn't mean someone can't now be causing it to happen. No pun intended but it does at least sound kind of fishy.

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If you are in the Garden and "have" to drink alcohol, you need to go elsewhere after they have ended alcohol sales, one hour prior to the end of the game. Just one of several possibilities to explain why he left without his friend. Once outside, any number of bars and routes to the water await.

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For anyone determined to avoid the obvious explanation there is a new competing theory popping up on various comment threads: M13 gang killings, which the police know about but are covering up.

Regarding Adam's post, I have been wondering why we haven't heard more about the other recent waterway body, found in the Muddy River. Presumably found with no ID and doesn't fit the profile that feeds the serial killer theory?

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A young educated man with a future in front of him sells more newspapers than the methadone addict that rolled down the bank.

Reporting might be unbiased, but the news sure isn't.

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After the initial "breaking news" of the latest Muddy River casualty, I've seen nothing in the media about whether they've identified the body or if they've determined a cause of death. Am I missing something? Is the media bad at following up? Is law enforcement bad at sharing this type of news?

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...if these cases are about drunk young guys stumbling into the river on their own, then why doesn't it happen in the warm weather months? It's always in the cold weather months when the streets are deserted, isn't it?
The law of averages would hold that the chances of this happening are increased during warm weather when there are more young drunk guys in Boston.
But I can't remember this happening in the warm weather when the streets of Boston are filled with people out and about.

The statement by the parents is interesting in that it says the river claimed his life that night.
Before an investigation...before an autopsy that will determine how long Michael was in the water?

If there are more facts to debunk the reignited serial killer theory, then how about releasing some info?

Condolences to Michael's family on their tragic loss.

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without the shock of falling into icy water and perhaps resulting hypothermia, I would imagine that even while drunk it's easier to pull yourself out and only have wet clothes and a walk of shame to show for it.

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Who has the greater chance of rescue/self rescue:

1. the person who falls into 34 F water in the dark when there are few if any people running/jogging/walking/hanging out in the area; or

2. the person who falls into 65 F water in the evening hours (still daylight) when there are likely to be passers-by?

In the first case, the person is in serious trouble and may not be able to self-rescue. Darkness and lack of people reduces the chance that they will be seen going in. In icy/snowy times, they might also lose footing in ways that they would not if there weren't snow on the ground.

In the second case, the person won't be hypothermic. They will have better traction. They won't be as disoriented in the daylight. There will likely be more people in the area, and the daylight will allow them to see what is going on from a distance. They might be able to climb out or be hauled out if uninjured, and there may never even be a call to 911. Someone gets wet and feels like a stupid dumbass, hanging out while they dry out enough to get home.

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...from the other side.

Any on why his cell pinged on Tremont by the Commons when he was supposedly in the water over a mile away?

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Stolen items often make their way to that area.

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That's how cellphones work.

Pinging a tower doesn't provide a location, it provides the service. And a mile is nothing during busy times such as weekend or with sports events ongoing.

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For starters it isn't over a mile from the TD garden to that tower - as the crow flies it is barely over a kilometer (1.2 km = 3/4 mile) according to Google Earth.

Also, while cel phones tend to seek and find the nearest tower, they don't always connect with the nearest tower, particularly in congested urban environments with a lot of towers in range. Sometimes they just use the tower they connect with first if it has sufficient signal quality and strength or are routed to a tower with sufficient signal based on network needs. It may have been a coincidence that his phone pinged that tower given how close it is to the location where he was found (most towers have a 2 mile reach).

More Information on how cel signals/towers work.

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There's less young men inside 495 during the summer as the litany of colleges are out for the summer.

You're also making a claim that I doubt the data backs up. I remember a few going missing during the summer a few years back.

Being drown is a pretty violent affair. There would be signs of a struggle and the coroner would report it.

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The statement by the parents is interesting in that it says the river claimed his life that night.
Before an investigation...before an autopsy that will determine how long Michael was in the water?

A little common sense will most likely provide the answers to your questions. First, although the public (that's you and me) haven't seen results of an investigation or an autopsy, it is possible that appropriate people (that's the family), and not the merely curious, have additional information. For example, it is possible that they were able to tell the family that there weren't any obvious signs of trauma that would suggest an attack.

If there are more facts to debunk the reignited serial killer theory, then how about releasing some info?

Perhaps because they owe more to the victim and his family than they do to the morbidly curious.

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...the family is paramount to all else.
But it's too early for full autopsy results - I know this because I have a family member who died under unknown circumstances in the same area and it took nearly a couple of weeks for the full report out of the same ME office.
And isn't it law enforcement/city authorities' duty to squelch the serial killer notion?
What about the theory of the public's right to know?
Ever hear of that?

Please don't accuse me of being unsympathetic to this young man and his family.
Quite the contrary.

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And isn't it law enforcement/city authorities' duty to squelch the serial killer notion?

The burden of proof rests on those making the claim, not on those refuting it. It is nobody's duty to refute a claim that there is a serial killer, or that the Kraken lives in the Charles and reaches out with tentacles to pull people down, or that aliens abduct guys of the streets and then throw their bodies into the river from their flying saucers.

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Is the FBI's estimate of active serial killers so it's not exactly a ridiculous question to ask or wonder about.

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From 2008, when the "smiley-faced killer" theory first gained prominence:

"The vast majority of these instances appear to be alcohol-related drownings".

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Just admit you're trying to entertain yourself on someone else's tragedy.

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If you hear hoofbeats approaching while you're walking on an equestrian trail, there's always a chance that it's a zebra....

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if these cases are about drunk young guys stumbling into the river on their own, then why doesn't it happen in the warm weather months? It's always in the cold weather months when the streets are deserted, isn't it?

In the warmer weather, if you fall into the river, and you climb out, or a passer-by pulls you out, it doesn't make the news. In the colder weather, when your survival time in the water is much shorter and the frequency of passers-by is less, you're less likely to make it, and it makes the news.

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The garden is abutted by water and there is easy access to the harbor and Charles River locks, and not so easy access, but possible to the train bridge.

Downtown itself is surrounded by water on three sides.

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It's hard to tell because all y'all anons look alike, but it's possible the one you're responding to is also the one who referred to "the Commons". Knowledge of Boston geography may be more hypothetical than actual here.

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