Police can't confirm if body is Patrick Dennehy

USA Today ^

[TexasGunLover]

Unfortunately, I suspect he landed in a corrupt athletic department environment. Baylor is not a hotbed of virrtue...

As a Baylor grad, I can say that your statement sure is based on a huge assumption and very little fact. Could you please provide some sort of evidence to support your statement(s)?

[Simcha7]

Hi...ValerieUSA, ALL

I Agree with You.

I also think that the Baylor Coaches "KNOW" a lot more than they are letting on...or telling the Police/FBI.

There probably is some kind of Corruption going on, and we...the public/Media is not aware of IT yet.

Maybe a good Investigative Reporter will uncover the Whole Truth, a hard thing for the Parents, Family and Friends to hear and face...but the Truth must come out!

[KCmark]

For Pete's sake, how many missing 6'10" men could it be?

---

A sad thing. But still, LOL. Common sense does seem hard to find.

[F.J. Mitchell]

That is Texas, 6' 10" is the average height of most medium size Texans.

[ValerieUSA]

The tip of the iceberg:

Missing BU player's girlfriend booted by NCAA — (07/24/2003)
(Albuquerque, New Mexico-AP) -- A New Mexico track athlete who's the girlfriend of a missing Baylor basketball player has been declared ineligible by the N-C-A-A.
School officials say Jessica De La Rosa is ineligible because she violated an N-C-A-A rule by accepting money for transportation while in Texas.

De La Rosa recently informed U-N-M of the violation.

The hurdler was in Waco today with the family of missing athlete Patrick Dennehy.

Former Baylor player Carlton Dotson has been charged with murder and is in custody in Maryland.

De La Rosa told the Albuquerque Tribune she accepted money from a member of the Baylor coaching staff for a cab ride from Waco to Dallas after visiting Dennehy last season.

De La Rosa declined to identify the coach.

U-N-M officials say De La Rosa's eligibility would likely be reinstated once she repays the money.

http://www.kxxv.com/main.cfm?ID=1&NewsID=2884&Type=Full

Note how the mention of receiving money from a Baylor coach isn't mentioned until the end of the article. Baylor is well-protected by the dependent local press (sports coverage is a BIG DEAL) so don't expect investigative reporting from Waco. However, the Dallas paper has been on the case.

[Palladin]

So sorry for Dennehy, his parents, and his fiance.

There is something wrong with a system that pushes emotionally immature and educationally-challenged young men into these college athletic milieus, where they become ripe for drug and alcohol abuse, as well as other problems.
Dotson seems mentally ill, to say the least.

[mewzilla]

Actually, I've heard reports about Baylor being in deep doo-doo. Something about coaches and/or boosters allegedly funneling cash and gifts to atheletes. Recently.

[deport]

Search For Dennehy Over The 3-week-long search for missing Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy ended 100 yards off a McLenann County Farm to Market Road. Police found Dennehy's body last night in an area between the Brazos River and FM 3400, several miles away from the apartment he once shared with former Baylor player Carlton Dotson. Late this morning, investigators removed the body from the scene. It will be taken to Dallas for autopsy. Authorities are expected to call a news conference about the discovery later this afternoon. Officers searched the area earlier this week with the assistance of a forensics team from Baylor University, but found nothing. They evidently returned to the area yesterday afternoon, after Dennehy's parents left Waco in a rental truck filled with the player's belongings. We don't know whether police have contacted Brian and Valorie Barbazon, who are enroute to their home in Nevada. Dennehy was last seen on June 12, but on June 14th he talked by phone with a close friend. Daniel Okopnyl says Dennehy told him that he and Dotson had been threatened and had purchased a shotgun for protection. The Brabazon's became concerned when Dennehy failed to call on Father's Day, June 15. Four days later, they called Waco police to report him missing. During their visit, the Brabazons learned a little more about the nature of the threat from a rural McLenann County woman who had befriended Dennehy and Dotson. The two men became friends with Tami and Daron Cox after driving out to their rural McLennan County home to purchase a dog. Tami Cox told the Brabazons that the two men were threatened at gunpoint by out-of-town friends of Baylor basketball player Harvey Thomas on June 6. She said it happened after Dotson and Dennehy joined Thomas and his friends on a trip to a liquor store. The men returned to an apartment where, Cox said, Dotson secreted several hundred dollars he intended as payment for a dog he was buying from the couple. He later discovered the money was missing and confronted Thomas and his friends, Cox said. According to Cox, one of the friends pulled a gun and threatened the two men. Cox said Dotson and Dennehy bought firearms the next day. A week later, Dennehy disappeare Dennehy's Chevrolet Tahoe was found without license plates on June 25 in a mall parking lot in Virginia Beach, Va. Two days later, Waco police issued a statement saying "potential suspects" in the disappearance could include some of Dennehy's teammates. A search warrant affidavit unsealed a week later quoted a police informant who said Dotson shot Dennehy in the head after the two argued while shooting pistols somewhere in McLennan County. The informant, according to the affidavit, told police that Dotson then drove home to Hurlock, Maryland, getting rid of the guns along the way. The affidavit also identifies a person known only as "Harvey" as the source of threats against Dennehy. The missing player's friends later confirmed that "Harvey" was Baylor player Harvey Thomas. Thomas has denied any involvement in Dennehy's disappearance. The affidavit focused the national media spotlight on Dotson, who was in seclusion in his hometown of Hurlock, Maryland, where he led his high school team to a national championship in 1999. Dotson remained in contact with Dennehy's closest friends, but repeatedly denied to them that he had any knowedge of the missing player's fate. He broke his public silence on June 17th when he requested a meeting with Dorchester County deputies. Sources later indicated that Dotson's rambling conversation with the investigators was peppered with prayer and scripture. He left the sheriff's office several hours later. Authorities said he would not be charged based on what he said. Three days later Dotson made a 911 call from the Super Fresh grocery store in Chestertown, Maryland and said he wanted to talk. Officers took him to the Chester River Hospital Center for evaluation. From there, Dotson called the Federal Bureau of Investigation and three agents from the Anapolis and Salisbury field offices arrived a short time later. Based on what he told the agents, Waco police obtained an arrest warrant, which was served on Dotson Monday night. His attorney chose to fight extradition. Doton was ordered jailed without bond until a hearing on August 19th.

[ValerieUSA]

http://www.dallasnews.com/texassouthwest/ap/stories/AP_STATEGS_0490.html

Report: Missing basketball player bragged about SUV
07/24/2003

The Associated Press

FORT WORTH, Texas — As Baylor basketball officials investigate whether the university may have violated NCAA rules regarding missing center Patrick Dennehy, a close friend reportedly says the player told her that the school might buy a sport utility vehicle for him if he agreed to transfer to Waco and give up his scholarship last season.

Adriana Gallegos, who dated Dennehy after they met nearly three years ago at the University of New Mexico and has remained good friends with him, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Thursday's editions that Dennehy returned to Albuquerque, N.M., happy and boasting that Baylor was "going to hook me up better than UNM," after a spring 2002 recruiting visit to Waco.

"I'm going to get probably like a nice SUV," Gallegos, 22, said Dennehy told her.

"I didn't think much of it because I've heard so many stories of good athletes getting hooked up," she said. "I just assumed he was going to be pretty well taken care of."

The Waco university has begun an internal investigation into the men's basketball program to determine whether a coach committed NCAA violations by helping pay for Dennehy's tuition and other expenses. The inquiry began Sunday after a reporter questioned the program's integrity.

"Baylor has begun a vigorous internal inquiry independent of the athletic department to determine the facts in this situation," Baylor athletic director Tom Stanton said in a prepared statement Wednesday. "The investigation will be thorough. We take these issues very seriously. We are hopeful questions about Patrick's first year at Baylor can be resolved quickly."

The National Collegiate Athletic Association has contacted the university regarding the basketball program, a Baylor official said. But an NCAA spokeswoman said the organization has a policy of neither confirming nor denying information regarding a current or possible investigation.

Allegations against Baylor include a report that Dennehy emerged from basketball offices last November with between $1,200 and $1,800 that he told his girlfriend, Jessica De La Rosa, came from a coach and was to go toward the purchase of a car. Patrick Dennehy Sr., the 6-10 player's father, said in published reports that De La Rosa, a University of New Mexico track athlete, reported what she saw to officials at New Mexico and they reported it to the NCAA.

The player's father also said a member of Baylor's basketball staff paid a car service to drive De La Rosa from Waco to a Dallas airport last fall. That allegation was investigated by New Mexico and the NCAA, and De La Rosa was declared ineligible to run track next season. She will likely be reinstated if she repays the cost of the trip, said Janice Ruggiero, a New Mexico athletics official.

Former Baylor basketball player Carlton Dotson remained jailed in Chestertown, Md., on Thursday, accused of killing Dennehy. The 21-year-old player has been missing since June 12 and Waco police this week began searching for his body. Brian Brabazon, his stepfather, filed a missing persons report with police on June 19.

Information from: Fort Worth Star-Telegram

[ValerieUSA]

The StartleGram's report online now:

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/6391578.htm

Posted on Sat, Jul. 26, 2003

Body found in Waco may be missing basketball player
By Jack Douglas
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

WACO _ Law enforcement officials found a body early Saturday in the area where police had said missing Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy may have been left for dead.

"We've got the whole area cordoned off," McLennan County Sheriff Larry Lynch said.

"Things are popping. I have all my deputies out there and the crime scene unit," Lynch said.

A police source, who spoke on condition of annonymity, said authorities were nearly certain the body was that of Dennehy. The remains were found in high grass and during an earlier search in the week "we could have walked right by it," the official said.

The remains will be closely examined and a DNA match will be attempted, the official said.

Police had said they were hoping Carlton Dotson, charged in the murder of Dennehy and being held in a Maryland jail, would be returned to Texas to lead authorities to the body.

It is unclear whether Dotson was back in Waco and helped locate the unidentified body.

Up until Friday afternoon police had said little about where Dennehy may be. However, during the early morning hours Saturday a Waco police unit was seen guarding the entrance to a sand and gravel quarry.

Shortly before 8 a.m. Saturday police were seen focusing on one spot near a grove of trees.

A white canopy had been set up in the field, presumably at the exact location where the remains were found.

By late morning, police and sheriff deputies were seen scouring the immediate area through high grass and leaves.

[opinion8r]

I am a Baylor grad also and have a hard time understanding where the lady is coming from!!! Particularly unfortunate and unlearned statement!

[Rennes Templar]

O come on now. Everyone knows Baylor University is a hotbed of corruption. (sarcasm) lol

[Magic Fingers]

> For Pete's sake, how many missing 6'10" men could it be?

Well, that's certainly the only thing any police department or coroner's office needs for positive identification - especially in today's legal environment. Good thing you're on the case!

[ValerieUSA]

Yes, not being a Baylor grad I am unlearned in the art of covering Baylor's ass.

[rollin]

Are you insinuating that a fine Baptist institution like Baylor is not a hotbed of virtue?

Why they don't allow drinking or dancing on campus . . .

[TC Rider]

For Pete's sake, how many missing 6'10" men could it be?

The fact that they found Gold Baylor size 22 sneaks and the corpse was wearing a loose fitting jersey with the number 33 on it is still inconclusive.

/sarcasm

[CedarDave]

BUMP to add NM to topics.

[PurVirgo]

Believe it or not, I read something to that effect in the Houston Comical... It was, oh I dunno, 3 or 4 weeks ago. Also, I believe there was some turmoil in regards to the regents and their appointment tactics...

[ridesthemiles]

Dotson was in the middle of a marriage breaking up--needed a place to stay--needed rides--- and he had secreted several hundred dollars to buy a DOG? Why not buy wheels so that you are not a bother to your friends? Why not put $$$ down on an apartment of your own? And last, but not least, if I had given a emotionally distraught friend a place to stay and rides, I would be mad as H### that he had the lack of sense to spend SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS on buying a dog. It wasn't even his residence!!! Is the a complete lack of usable brain cells in these glorified athletes?

[ValerieUSA]

*L* Yeah... No drinking or dancing on campus.
How did I forget the student body's purity?
It's not like Baylor athletes have been known to club and skin local cats or anything....

However, I am commenting on the possible NCAA rules violations by Baylor coaches as they negotiate scholarships, transportation and favors for their recruits. Rules they may have violated on behalf of Dennehy and did not want uncovered by an investigation into his untimely disappearance and the suspicion that teammates had threatened him.
hmmmmm... Could there have been jealousy lurking within athletes who didn't think they were getting their fair share of favors? Is that why the coaches refuse to acknowledge that Dennehy reported to them his concerns for his safety, when Dennehy's family and other friends say he did tell them that he had talked to the coaches about the problem?