Taylor Meyer, 17, of Plainville, Mass missing since 10/17/08 (BODY FOUND)

[klaasend]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,441101,00.html



Search On for Teen Missing From Underage Drinking Party
Monday , October 20, 2008


 Massachusetts police resumed their search Monday for a high school student who wandered off three days ago from an underage drinking party.

Taylor Meyer, 17, of Plainville, Mass., disappeared Friday night from a party at an old airport in Norfolk, Mass., MyFOXBoston.com reports.

"I know she's in danger, and I just want my best friend back," Paige Zuzick, Meyer's friend, told MyFOXBoston.com.

Meyer's friends told the station the teen wandered off from the party intoxicated at around 11 p.m. A cousin did get a phone call from the teen, but it was garbled.

Authorities searched an approximately 1-square-mile region and divers combed the nearby Charles and Mill rivers for signs of the teen, MyFOXBoston.com said.

"It's been a long search because it's a very wooded area," Sgt. Marie Cleary told MyFOXBoston.com.

Meyer is described as about 5-foot-8, 150 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes.

[MumInOhio]

Quincy police divers help search for missing teen
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  The Patriot Ledger
Posted Oct 20, 2008 @ 09:07 AM

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QUINCY — A Quincy police dive team was headed to Norfolk today to help look for a missing 17-year-old girl.

Quincy police Capt. John Dougan said eight divers from the department are helping Norfolk police in the search for Taylor Meyer of Plainville.

The girl has been missing since Friday night. She was at a party before wandering off into the woods, Norfolk police said.

Meyer is described as 5 feet 8 inches tall, about 150 pounds, and with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and jeans.

http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x1744299043/Quincy-police-divers-help-search-for-missing-teen

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BOSTON -- The body of a 17-year-old girl missing since Friday night has been found, officials said Monday.
Friends said Taylor Meyer, 17, a senior at King Philip High School, was last seen at the former Norfolk airport at about 10:30 p.m. Friday. She was separated from them during the course of the evening and did not return.

Officials comfirmed that the body was found at about 10:30 a.m. Monday in a marshy area near the Miller Street bridge about 50 to 100 yards from where the teen was last seen.

"There was no obvious sign of trauma. We are not able to deal with the question of cause of death at this time," said Norfolk County District Attorney William Keating.

Police, fire and rescue teams scoured the area near the airport, including the nearby Charles River, using boats, trained dogs and a state police helicopter for the teen on Saturday evening, Sunday and Monday morning.

Authorities said Meyer made a few calls with her cell phone, but the last call was so garbled it was incomprehensible.
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/most...48/detail.html

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http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/17762351/index.html
video report

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Autopsy delayed until today at earliest
WRENTHAM - King Philip High Regional School students headed to class with heavy hearts Tuesday, a day after the body of one of their own was found in a marshy area near an abandoned Norfolk airport.

Counselors were on hand all day for students who needed help dealing with grief over the death of 17-year-old Taylor Meyer, of Plainville, who died over the weekend after leaving a drinking party in remote, sprawling woods at the former Norfolk Airport.

"It was really sad," said Matt McCarthy, a King Philip junior who had taken a class with Meyer. "Students and teachers were upset."

The state medical examiner was originally expected to conduct a preliminary autopsy on Tuesday, but it is now not expected to be completed until today at the earliest, according to David Traub, spokesman for Norfolk County District Attorney William Keating.

Keating said there were no obvious signs of trauma and they are awaiting the medical examiner's report to determine a cause of death.

Posters and flowers adorned the sign in front of the high school and the school's track Tuesday afternoon, as students left messages saying goodbye and offering condolences to Meyer's family.

Next to the school's auditorium, friends had written their goodbyes on a rainbow-colored kite adorned with a single white rose.

"Watch over us, we miss and love you," one friend wrote.

Friends and relatives of Meyer have also created two groups on the Web site Facebook.com, where loved ones can share memories of Meyer and offer condolences to her family. The groups, called "Come Home Safe Taylor" and "R.I.P. Taylor Meyer" already have more than 150 members each.

The Bridgewater Bandits Eastern Junior Hockey League and Empire Junior Hockey League teams have also decided to donate the proceeds from their Saturday games to Meyer's family, according to a Facebook group.

School officials said they are doing their best to help students and teachers affected by the tragic news. We're taking it day-by-day," said Pat Francomano, chairman of the King Philip school committee. "We're letting people have their time to grieve and cope."

Francomano said he does not believe there was anything the school or school district could have done to prevent what happened to Meyer.

"If anyone has any suggestions as to how this could have been prevented, I'm sure everyone in the community would be very anxious to hear it," he said.

On Tuesday, students tried to go about business as usual, holding all scheduled events and practices, including the football team, which is gearing up for a showdown against North Attleboro Friday night.

"We're just taking it a day at a time and dealing with it the best we can," Francomano said.
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2008/10/22/news/3827592.txt

A memorial set up in memory of Taylor Meyer on the King Philip Regional High School track next to the football field.

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Plainville teen’s uncle recalls ‘awful outcome’

The grief-stricken uncle of popular Plainville teen Taylor Meyer didn’t want a stranger telling her mother that investigators had found her beloved daughter’s lifeless body.

“I’ve given tragic news to plenty of people but that was by far the worst thing I’ve ever had to do,” said Scott Meyer, a North Attleboro firefighter captain who was at the command post during the exhaustive search for his niece.

Meyer, a 17-year-old senior at King Philip Regional High School in Wrentham, was last seen leaving an underage drinking party at an abandoned airport in Norfolk Friday night. Her body was found Monday in a swampy area about 100 yards from where she was last seen alive.

Investigators, awaiting autopsy results, have not yet said what they believe happened.

Taylor Meyer’s mother was at the airport when officials found her daughter’s body.

“When the time came, I said, ‘Somebody has to do it. Let me do it,’ ” Meyer said of delivering the grim news. “I approached my sister-in-law and my wife and it was awful. It was an awful, awful outcome.”

Meyer expressed his gratitude yesterday to law enforcement officials and firefighters for their valiant efforts and for letting him be at the command post.

Preliminary autopsy results are expected today.

“She was being a teenager and she was with her friends, the people she enjoyed being with,” the uncle said. “She went to the football game. She celebrated homecoming with her friends afterward. Unfortunately, she got disoriented and separated from her friends leaving a campfire.”

Meyer said his niece, who leaves an older and younger brother, was a “fantastic kid” who always had a smile on her face.

“She celebrated life every day. She’s a clone of her mother. She’s a wonderful girl. Her mother’s a wonderful person,” said Meyer, whose two teen daughters were close to their counsin Taylor.

A wake will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the Sperry & McHoul Funeral Home in North Attleboro. A funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Mary’s Church on Park Street in North Attleboro.

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2008_10_22_Plainville_teen_s_uncle_recalls_‘awful_outcome_/srvc=home&position=4
comments at the site

[2NJSons_Mom]

What a pretty, young girl....very sad.

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The Boston Herald
 
October 23, 2008 Thursday
 
Norfolk D.A.: No foul play seen in drowning death of Plainville teen

Plainville teen Taylor Meyer - last seen leaving an underage drinking party at an abandoned airport in Norfolk - appears to have drowned, authorities said yesterday.

The autopsy showed no evidence of foul play or trauma, the Norfolk County District Attorney's office said.

``While a final cause of death has not been issued, since some standard medical testing has not been completed, the examination found no evidence of trauma or foul play in her death,'' the DA's office said in a statement.

``The available evidence is consistent with death by drowning.''

Authorities are awaiting toxicology and other tests.

Meyer's body was found Monday in a swampy area about 100 yards from where she was last seen Friday night. A search was launched Saturday after she was reported missing.

Meyer was a senior at King Philip Regional High School. 
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:873210082&start=2

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Teen who left party apparently drowned
Unclear whether girl was drinking

Taylor Meyer told friends she would call for a ride home, but her call was garbled.

Taylor Meyer, the 17-year-old Plainville girl who was found dead Monday after she wandered from a Friday night drinking party in Norfolk, appears to have drowned in the swamp where she was found, the Norfolk district attorney's office said yesterday.

Investigators do not suspect foul play. Meyer suffered no trauma before she died, according to preliminary autopsy results. The official cause of death has not yet been determined, and more medical tests will be conducted.

Police have not specifically said Meyer was drinking at the party. A toxicology test will be performed.

But the autopsy results helped piece together what happened to Meyer when she left a bonfire and party underway among about two dozen friends from King Philip Regional High School Friday night. Police said the teens were celebrating their football team's homecoming game victory with beer and vodka shots.

People in the community continued to grieve over the death of the popular, friendly senior. Some began talking about what lessons could be drawn from the state's latest death related to teen drinking. Many said the news was still too raw as they struggled to understand the loss.

"Everybody, for all practical purposes, is still in shock and still trying to deal with what's happened," Pat Francomano, chairman of the regional School Committee, said in an interview late Tuesday.

"It's still very early to know what's going to happen and how we move from this point."

Police did not know Meyer was missing until about 5 p.m. on Saturday, after her family realized her whereabouts were unknown. Meyer apparently had told her family she was staying overnight with friends Friday.

Meyer told people at the party she was going to call for a ride home, but a cellphone call she made to a relative at 10:57 p.m. was garbled. She then apparently walked from the woods near a defunct airport in Norfolk, where the students were partying, into the treacherous swamp area where her body was found.

As the investigation into the death continued, Norfolk Police Chief Charles Stone was trying to tactfully but emphatically remind teenagers and their parents of the all-too-common problems with underage drinking.

"The kids and the parents, they [need to] keep an eye on each other and work together and work together with us," he said.

Communities that have suffered similar losses respond in different ways.

The death of two Southborough sisters three years ago Friday, the day Meyer went missing, in a car accident after an underage party brought about new alliances between teenagers and parents, such as a chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions at the regional high school. Parents agreed to host alcohol-free parties, and sent e-mail alerts to each other about any concerns with their children.

Mark Leahy - chief of police in Northborough, where the sisters' accident occurred - said the community's healing needed the partnership of students and parents. And police have responded to any reports of underage drinking with a newfound resilience, he said, because "you can never forget."

"If you don't do it there will be another group [of students] who will mourn the loss by delving into drinking and drugs," he said. "You don't want to see more kids killed. You don't want to see more kids get hurt."

Police and school officials are still trying to decide how best to respond in Norfolk and Plainville.

"There's no way to prepare emotionally for things like this," said Richard J. Robbat, superintendent of the King Philip Regional School District, which serves Wrentham, Norfolk, and Plainville, near Interstate 495 southwest of Boston.

He said the school has provided grief counselors to students, and in weeks to come the district may consider a communitywide response to Meyer's death.

Students have been told of Meyer's funeral arrangements and are encouraged to be accompanied by an adult if they attend.

Calling hours are from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the Sperry & McHoul Funeral Home on Grove Street in North Attleborough. A funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Mary's Church in North Attleborough. The Meyer family has requested that students who attend wear pink in memory of the teenager.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/10/23/teen_who_left_party_apparently_drowned/

Hat Tip/Faith/HFTM

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"Disgusted" Mass. mother takes back bracelets
November 25, 2008

WRENTHAM, Mass.—The "disgusted" mother of a Plainville teenager who died after an underage drinking party took back bracelets that her daughter's schoolmates had been wearing before their court appearance on underage drinking charges.

Kathi Meyer confiscated about a dozen pink bracelets from among the 20 underage people arraigned Monday in Wrentham District Court for attending another drinking party at a Wrentham home Friday night.

Meyer's 17-year-old daughter, Taylor, died after wandering away from a party in Norfolk last month.

Meyer tells The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro that her daughter's friends "don't deserve to honor my daughter" and she was "disgusted" the teens did not learn from her daughter's death.

Most of those arrested Friday attended the same high school as Taylor.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/11/25/disgusted_mass_mother_takes_back_bracelets/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news

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Rum was not bought for MA girl found dead

North Attleboro (AP) -- A lawyer says his client had no idea that alcohol he bought would end up in the hands of a teenage girl who was found dead after wandering off from a party.

Police say Sean Flynn of North Attleboro bought rum for an underage friend, who allegedly gave the alcohol to 17-year-old Taylor Meyer of Plainville the night of the October 17 party at an abandoned airport in Norfolk.

Three days later, Meyer's body was found in a swampy area nearby.

Attorney John McGlone tells The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro that his client would not have bought the alcohol if he had known that it would be given to Meyer.

A clerk magistrate is deciding if there's probable cause to charge Meyer ? with procuring alcohol for a minor.
http://wbz.com/pages/3556498.php?contentType=4&contentId=3265563
Has to be a misprint/typo there....I am sure they mean 'Flynn' in the underlined above.

[Nut44x4]

After Daughter's Death, Mother Has Message For Teens
Kathi Meyer's Daughter Died After Night Of Underage Drinking
POSTED: 12:45 pm EDT May 3, 2009

BOSTON -- Taylor Meyer was just 17 years old when she died last October in a swamp in Plainville, Mass., after a night of drinking with her friends.

For her mother, Kathi, the heartache is still palpable. She misses Taylor walking in the front door, misses her hugs and her smell, and she misses her laughter.

Meyer told NewsCenter 5's Liz Brunner that she and her daughter were very close. The two talked about anything and everything, but she never thought that Taylor and her friends drank as much as they did, nor that there was a party every single weekend she and her friends could go to.

Taylor’s last hours on earth were spent at a familiar hangout for teens deep in the woods near the long-abandoned Norfolk Airport.
 
"I had assumed that was probably the first time she had been there,” said Meyer. "But I've been told by her friends that was absolutely not the case. That she had been there six, seven, eight times."

Taylor never made it out of those woods alive and Meyer says the fact that her friends “assumed she’d get home OK” still blows her mind.

Taylor had told her mom she was going to the football game and then spending the night at a girlfriend’s house. But when she wasn’t home by 8 a.m., Meyer started to worry.

“I called her at 9, called her at 10, called her at 11. No answer,” said Meyer. “The cell phone was dead and teenage girls do not let their cell phones die."

"There were so many rumors about where she was, what time she left, what she was doing. The kids (didn't tell because) were afraid of getting caught."

After three excruciating days of searching and waiting, Taylor’s body was found face down in 2 feet of water in a swamp in the woods.

"It was the worst moment of my life," said Meyer. “If she was that drunk that she started to go deeper into the woods, why wouldn't anyone have walked her out? But they were all drunk as well, so that's what you're dealing with."

The teens who bought and served the alcohol have been charged, and the kids who were partying with Taylor have agreed to go to substance abuse programs and do community service. They will have no criminal record.

Meyer made a point of being in the courtroom when the teens were sentenced. And while she agreed with the sentence, and said she has forgiven the teens for their part in her daughter’s death, she fears it still is not “real” to them.

"What has made me angry,” said Meyer, “is that they still get to walk in their door everyday and don't seem to own what they've done."

Meyer has now made it her mission to speak to students and parents, turning her tragedy into something positive.

She tells students to "look next to you. Imagine your friend not being here because of one wrong decision. She was totally at fault for drinking that night. And I'm angry at her because she put herself in that position and she knew better."

"I wish I had known her Facebook account. Had I looked at that, I would've realized how much they were drinking."

"I never got to see Taylor in love,” said Meyer, “I never saw anybody in love with her. I'm never going to see her have kids. I'm never going see her get married. She would have done all that stuff. She was amazing and she had a great future ahead of her.”
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/health/19356028/detail.html

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Mom Sues Teens in Binge Drinking Case
Jan. 28, 2010
Mass. Mom Files Civil Lawsuit Against Friends After Her Daughter Died During a Night Out

A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study confirms that the most commonly abused substance by teenagers is not tobacco or illegal drugs -- it's alcohol.

Now a Massachusetts mom is fighting back after her daughter paid the ultimate price.

Taylor Meyer was an honor student, an athlete, a young woman with a bright future. But one tragic mistake cut the 17-year-old's promising life short, and sent shockwaves through the small Massachusetts town of Norfolk.

Jay Beausang, of Norfolk, told CBS News, "As long as I live in this neighborhood I won't forget about it."

In October 2008, Taylor and a group of friends decided to celebrate after a high school football game. They attended a couple of house parties, and then walked through an abandoned airport to continue their night out.

Meyer and her friends ended up in a wooded area popular for teenage drinking. Around 11 p.m., she wandered off toward a swamp. It was the last time she was seen alive.

"There's no place in these small towns for these kids to go," Beausang said, "so they go into the woods and they have a few drinks and unfortunately this one ended up in a tragedy."

After her mother reported her missing, a massive search was launched. Three days later, Taylor's body was recovered from the frigid waters.

Norfolk, Mass. Police Chief Charles Stone said, "We were hoping for the best possible outcome and in the end that wasn't the case, it was the worst possible nightmare."

According to a 2006 National Survey of Drug Use and Health, 19 percent of young people between the ages of 12 and 20 reported binge drinking. And annually, according to the National Institutes of Health, 5,000 people under 21 die from alcohol related causes.

Now more than a year later, Taylor's mother Kathi, is on a crusade. She's filed a civil lawsuit against seven people who she believes bear some responsibility for her daughter's death. Five of them are under the age of 18.

Wendy Murphy, an attorney told CBS News, "It's hard to blame another kid who's a binge drinker for the harm done to another kid who's a binge drinker. It's sort of a group responsibility."

However, Meyer is going forward with the case. The lawsuit itself calls for unspecified monetary damages, but for this grieving mother, the lawsuit is more about accountability and saving lives.

Kathi Meyer and her attorney, Richard Campbell appeared on "The Early Show."

Meyer said she's filing the lawsuit -- almost a year and a half later -- because of accountability.

"The people involved in the circumstance of Taylor's passing definitely did not realize how much they contributed to it," she said. "And their actions haven't spoken in that manner."

Five of the defendants are kids who were drinking just like Taylor was.

"Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez said, "Some people might say why are they anymore responsibility than she?"

"They're not more responsible than she is," Meyer said. "But they definitely are as responsible as she, and she definitely has paid the ultimate cost. And there definitely is a substantial contributing factor to it, and I don't feel that those people have learned even as of today."

Meyer said she had experiences with her daughter and these friends before. Meyer said she'd caught her daughter drinking about a year before her death.

"As her mom," Meyer said, "I let her stay at the police station for a long period of time -- more than most parents would. And when I picked her had up, she was grounded for 30 days. And we spent time together, we did everything together, and I would have thought that that would have been, you know, substantial enough for her to realize not to do it, but unfortunately, that ultimately wasn't case."

Meyer said she would have done many things differently if she could go back.

"I wish I had had access to her Facebook. I wish I had had every single one of her friends' phone numbers," she said. "So many things you could say would-have, should-have, could-have. And I talk to (other parents) so they won't have this loss because it's absolutely nothing that someone should have to go through."

Meyer said she's taking a difficult step with this lawsuit.

"Unfortunately, I'm born and raised in my town, so the majority of all those kids that were there that night have been Taylor's friends since they were five. And I've said to parents, for me to bring this up and take this stance with it is not an easy stance to take by any means. But it's something that has to be done because when I go and speak to kids at schools they always ask me, 'What happened to those kids?' And I have to look and them and tell them they had a $50 fine and eight hours of community service."

"I don't think our kids are learning from that," she said. "...My whole point of doing this is so that there's not another mom sitting up here suffering a loss because of a stupid decision."

Meyer said Taylor's story is already having a positive impact.

"In one of the schools I spoke to, a parent's son was out drinking and those kids picked up that cell phone when they couldn't get him to talk. They picked up that cell phone and they called their mom and said, 'He's here, what can we do?' And that mother called me and said, 'You know, my son is definitely alive because of your daughter.' (She said those kids) said on that phone, 'If that mom hadn't told Taylor's story, we would have left him.' And I know he's alive today because of it. So she has a legacy already."

Meyer added that the civil suit is unfortunately one of the ways it will make a difference.

"Everybody says you know, 'It's about the money.' We're suing 17-year-old kids. It's not about the money. It's about the principle and owning the accountability, and hopefully they'll make a change."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/28/earlyshow/main6151032.shtml