Posted on 06/28/2003 7:33:20 AM PDT by John W
WACO, Texas -- Some of Patrick Dennehy's teammates might be suspects in the disappearance of the Baylor basketball player, police said Friday.
Dennehy, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound center, has not been seen or heard from in more than two weeks.
While police have not found a body, department spokesman Steven Anderson said they "have received information from several sources that would lead investigators to believe that foul play was involved."
In a written statement, Anderson said police were looking into whether Dennehy might have been killed in the Waco area. A sport utility vehicle belonging to Dennehy was found this week in Virginia Beach, Va.
"From that lead and others, potential suspects in the disappearance of Dennehy potentially include fellow Baylor basketball players,'' Anderson said. "Information about possible crime scenes are currently being investigated.''
The statement did not elaborate on the possible connection of Baylor players to Dennehy's disappearance.
Police records supervisor Tommy Tull said Friday night that he could not release any additional information and that Anderson was out of the office. Anderson plans a news briefing Monday on the case.
In the Saturday editions of The Dallas Morning News, two Baylor players said they had spoken to police.
Ellis Kidd Jr, a guard from Dallas, said the team has talked with police as a group. "They just wanted our help," he said. "We just started having meetings with them. We don't know nothing. Everybody's shook up. We don't know what's going on. It's unknown."
Carlton Dotson, identified by the Morning News as a teammate who lives in Hurlock, Md., said he was instructed not to talk about the case. "I had to talk to police today, and I told them everything I can tell them and everything I knew," Dotson told the Morning News.
On the school's Web site, Tom Stanton, director of athletics, released a statement offering the university's thoughts to Dennehy's family.
"Baylor University has just learned about these new developments involving the disappearance of Patrick Dennehy. The nature of the developments is certainly disturbing," Stanton's statement read in part. "It's impossible to respond at this moment until we learn more about the investigation."
Virginia Beach police spokesman Jimmy Barnes said at least one Waco detective flew in Thursday to examine an SUV found without license plates in a strip mall. The mall's owner had it towed as an abandoned vehicle.
The towing company reported the vehicle's identification number to Virginia Beach police, Barnes said. Police then checked the number on a national law enforcement database and found it was wanted by Waco police in connection with a missing person.
Baylor coach Dave Bliss could not be reached for comment Friday night. Earlier this week, Bliss said the team remained hopeful that Dennehy would eventually turn up unharmed.
"Obviously, we've got tremendous concerns," Bliss said. "We are prayerful, we're concerned, we're anxious, we're apprehensive. We just pray for this to be resolved, and we look forward to him returning to our team.''
Dennehy, who played high school basketball in Santa Clara, Calif., sat out last season after transferring from New Mexico and was expected to vie for playing time this fall. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
Dennehy had an impressive but controversial two-year stint at New Mexico under former Lobos coach Fran Fraschilla.
Midway through his freshman season at New Mexico, Dennehy said he might transfer at year's end because of a lack of playing time. Dennehy eventually saw more action and became the third-leading freshman rebounder in school history.
As a sophomore in the 2001-2002 season, Dennehy averaged 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds, but his season was clouded by a number of problems. During a game against Air Force in February 2002, Dennehy argued on court with teammates, shoved a one of them, kicked over a chair and stalked off to the locker room. He didn't return to the game.
Fraschilla declined to discipline Dennehy, and the team physician said the player was being treated for "a confidential medical condition."
Fraschilla resigned under pressure in March 2002, and Ritchie McKay was hired later that month. Less than two weeks later, Dennehy had another flare-up during practice. McKay dismissed him from the team.
A month later, Dennehy announced he had accepted a scholarship to play for former New Mexico coach Bliss.
Another wasted college education.
A police informant in Delaware told authorities that missing Baylor University basketball player Patrick Dennehy was shot in the head with a 9 mm handgun by a former teammate after the two had an argument, according to court documents released Monday.
The teammate and former roommate, Carlton Dotson, told a cousin that he got in an argument with Dennehy while they were shooting guns in the Waco area and that Dennehy pointed a gun at Dotson as if to shoot him, the informant said.
But Dotson instead shot Dennehy in the head with the pistol, the informant said. Dotson said he then drove home to Hurlock, Md., and got rid of the guns along the way, the informant said.
The search warrant affidavit released Monday was filed June 23 in 19th District Court in McLennan County by Waco police detective Bob Fuller.
District Attorney John Segrest declined to comment Monday, referring questions to Waco police. Fuller did not return a phone call to The Associated Press on Monday.
A message was left on an answering machine at Dotson's home in Maryland.
Dennehy was reported missing by his family on June 19, and his sport utility vehicle, its license plates missing, was found last week in a mall parking lot in Virginia Beach, Va.
Waco Police Chief Alberto Melis said no body had been found and no arrests had been made. Melis would not elaborate on any evidence.
Melis said officers were treating the disappearance like a homicide because his department got a call "from an outside source" that said a homicide had occurred in the Waco area and the victim could be associated with a local university.
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