The Missing Baylor B-Ball player?
 

has anyone else been following this? The article mentioned the rumour that I heard about him being shoot by his friend, but on GMA this morning, they said that it was just a rumour.

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Friend: Dennehy in fear before disappearance
By David Leon Moore, USA TODAY

WACO, Texas. — Missing Baylor University basketball player Patrick Dennehy was afraid, felt threatened and was "acting paranoid" directly before his disappearance three weeks ago, a close friend said Wednesday. Daniel Okopnyi, who calls Dennehy his best friend, last spoke to Dennehy on June 14. They agreed that Dennehy and former Baylor teammate Carlton Dotson, a "person of interest" to police in Dennehy's disappearance, would drive from Waco to Arlington, Texas, to go out to a club that night and celebrate Okopnyi's 20th birthday the next day.

But Dennehy and Dotson didn't show up, and Okopnyi hasn't talked to or seen Dennehy since.

"I have a gut feeling he's out there somewhere," Okopnyi, a student at Texas Christian University who lives with his mother and stepfather in Arlington, told USA TODAY. "I hope and pray he's OK."

Okopnyi, who became friends with Dennehy in high school in Santa Clara, Calif., said that Dennehy had talked to him in the days before his disappearance about being insulted and threatened by someone named "Harvey" and another person. He said Dennehy told him he and Dotson had acquired guns for protection.

"Harvey was a player, a new player, and the other guy might have been a player, too, I'm not sure," Okopnyi said.

Baylor's list of incoming recruits includes Harvey Thomas, a 6-8, 210-pound junior transfer from Fredericksburg, Va., who played his freshman year at Georgetown University and last played at Northeast Oklahoma A&M, a junior college.

An affidavit released Monday says Dotson confessed to a relative that he shot Dennehy in the head with a 9 mm handgun after an argument. That affidavit says Dennehy's girlfriend said threats had been made against Dennehy and that a person named "Harvey" had been responsible for the threats.

A Baylor sports information officer said he doesn't know if the "Harvey" mentioned in the affidavit is Thomas, who is on campus now, enrolled in a summer session.

Assistant athletic director Scott Stricklin said he thought the association between the name in the affidavit and Thomas was "an unfair leap" and that the university probably would issue a statement on this later in the day.

Waco police last Friday announced that Baylor players were suspected in the case, but they have backtracked from that statement.

Okopnyi said that Dennehy and Dotson were together when he spoke to Dennehy on the phone June 14, and that Dennehy felt Dotson needed protection.

"He said, 'I've got Dotty's back,' " Okopnyi said. "It seemed like maybe the threats were aimed more at Carlton than at Patrick."

Okopnyi doesn't know why someone might have been threatening Dennehy or Dotson. "Patrick said he would explain it to me when he got up to Arlington," Okopnyi said. "I never saw him again."

Florida-based criminal attorney Grady C. Irvin Jr., who just concluded representing former Florida State quarterback Adrian McPherson in a court case, was retained Tuesday to represent Dotson, who is home in Hurlock, Md.

Dotson, who played at Baylor last season as a junior college transfer, will not be returning after coach Dave Bliss told him his playing time would be reduced. As a junior at North Dorchester High School in Hurlock, Dotson led the school to the 1999 Maryland Class 1A championship.

Okopnyi also said Dennehy told him his car had recently been broken into and things stolen.

"We checked into that. (Dennehy) never filed a report with us," Waco police spokesman Steve Anderson said. "I'm not saying it didn't happen, but it was never reported."

Early in the Dennehy investigation, Okopnyi was interviewed over the phone by Waco police and submitted a notarized statement. He said he was told by police to call back if he had any further information to offer.

Okopnyi said he called back late last week because he felt something was wrong and wanted to offer any information he could.

"It involved the threats and I just had a bad feeling," he said. "Things were being said about Patrick and Dotty that I didn't think were right."

He left a message with officer Robert Fuller but never got a call back.

"I was sort of surprised," Okopnyi said. "It wasn't what I thought would happen. They said they'd keep me updated. But they never got back. It seemed like they didn't want anything else from me."

Anderson said the investigators have been inundated with hundreds of calls daily and are trying to get back to everyone.

Okopnyi's stepfather, Alex Preston, and his mother, Oksana, said Wednesday that Dennehy was like a member of their family.

"He was up here almost every weekend," Okopnyi's mother said. "Danny and Patrick were inseparable. Patrick was such a good kid. That's why it doesn't surprise me if he was trying to protect Carlton. He was like that, good to his friends."

Contributing: Gary Mihoces, in Hurlock, Md.

I saw the coverage on CNN and as far as I know, CNN doesn't report rumors so I think it's true. It's really tragic.

I saw this on tv a few days ago, also. It's really sad. I am not sure what is going on with the case now, but when I saw it, they had not located his body yet. I would hope that his teammate would not do such a thing but these days you never know.

OK, the story says that Dennehy and Dotson were being threatened by "Harvey." Dennehy allegedly had Dotson's back. They were sort of on the same side, if you will. However, the story says that Dotson shot Dennehy. :confused: If they were down together, fighting against "Harvey" and someone else, why would Dotson turn on Dennehy? If he really did it like it says, why doesn't he just tell where the young man's body is? If you're going to kill me, at least let my family know where I am....

Update!!!
 

CHESTERTOWN, Md. (July 22) - A roommate was arrested Monday on charges of murdering college basketball player Patrick Dennehy, who disappeared a month ago and whose body has never been found, authorities said.

The warrant naming Carlton Dotson was issued by police in Waco, Texas, where both men attended Baylor University, Chestertown Police Chief Walter Coryell said.

Leaving a court appearance Monday night, Dotson told a reporter: ''I didn't confess to anything. Call the FBI.'' Shortly after his arrest, Dotson had referred all questions to his lawyer.

Dotson's attorney, Grady Irvin Jr., said in a telephone interview that he had last spoken with his client over the weekend. He would not say what they discussed.

''It is most unfortunate that police have come to the conclusion that there is a death,'' Irvin said. ''I am uncertain as to how they came to that conclusion, that Patrick Dennehy is now dead.''

Sgt. Ryan Holt, a Waco police spokesman, told The Dallas Morning News that Dotson confessed to killing Dennehy and described a location where Dennehy's body might be found. He told the newspaper that police were searching that location Monday night, but declined to elaborate.

Two officers escorted Dotson, in handcuffs, into the police station about 9:20 p.m. He emerged about 15 minutes later with Coryell, another officer and an FBI agent.

The 21-year-old Dotson was fingerprinted and processed at the police department, Coryell said. He was then taken to the Kent County court commissioner's office, where he was ordered held without bond at the county jail.

Dotson will have another hearing Tuesday. If he waives extradition, he will be returned to Texas, the chief said.

Coryell said Dotson was in Chestertown, about 55 miles from his hometown of Hurlock, on Sunday when he called police from a grocery store.

''He said he needed help,'' Coryell said. ''We took him to the hospital for an evaluation. During his stay there he contacted the FBI.''

The police chief said Dotson stayed overnight at a Chestertown hospital, then left early Monday afternoon with FBI agents.

Dotson was interviewed by the FBI and ''as a result of that interview, this warrant has been issued,'' the chief said. He declined to elaborate on Dotson's statement and calls to the FBI were not immediately returned.

''I don't know if the arrest warrant is based on statements he (Dotson) made or information gathered through law enforcement agencies and their investigations,'' Irvin said.

Irvin, of St. Petersburg, Fla., said he would probably arrive Tuesday in Baltimore and travel to Chestertown to meet with Dotson.

Holt said in a statement that Dotson contacted authorities in Maryland and said he wanted to talk to the FBI about Dennehy's disappearance. He said his department would not comment further until a news conference Tuesday afternoon in Waco.

Last Thursday, Dotson voluntarily went to the Dorchester County sheriff's office near Hurlock to make a statement about Dennehy's disappearance. He was never in custody and was not arrested.

Waco police declined to discuss what Dotson told authorities last week, saying only that it did not change the course of their investigation.

Dotson returned home to Maryland last month. A woman who answered the door at the home in Hurlock that Dotson shares with his great-grandparents said the couple had gone to bed. When told by a reporter Dotson had been charged with murder, she said ''you know more than we know'' before closing the door.

Dennehy's girlfriend, Jessica De La Rosa, choked back tears Monday night after she learned Dotson was charged with killing Dennehy.

''I was really, truly hoping in my heart that he was alive somewhere out there,'' said De La Rosa, 20, of Albuquerque, N.M. ''I was hoping maybe he'd be hiding.''

''Carlton was lucky enough to have known Patrick and let Patrick take him under his wing, give him a place to live and this is how Patrick was repaid,'' Brian Brabazon, Dennehy's stepfather said in an interview with KWTX-TV of Waco.

Baylor Athletic Director Tom Stanton issued a statement saying, ''We are struggling to find the right words and actions that would ease the pain of everyone connected to Patrick. ... There are no words to describe our grief or our feelings right now.''

Dennehy's Chevrolet Tahoe was found June 25 in a strip mall parking lot in Virginia Beach, Va., where he had no apparent connections.

Authorities said Friday they were trying to determine if a 9mm handgun found Thursday at a Waco apartment complex near Baylor was related to Dennehy's disappearance.

According to an earlier search warrant affidavit, an unidentified informant reported to Delaware authorities that Dotson told a cousin he shot Dennehy as the two argued while shooting 9mm guns in the Waco area.

Friends of Dennehy's say he told them that he and Dotson were being threatened and that the pair obtained guns. The family of Dennehy, who grew up in the San Francisco area, also claimed the 6-foot-10, 230-pound forward told coaches he feared for his life.

Baylor head coach Dave Bliss has repeatedly said he and his staff were not aware of any threats.

Dotson lost his basketball scholarship this spring and was not expected to play at Baylor next season.

AP-NY-07-22-03 0108EDT

Drammma, not Drama. :rolleyes:

On the news this morning, it was reported that ole boy went to the sheriff's office and said he was hearing things and he needed counselling. I guess so. :rolleyes:

ESPN reported a few minutes ago that allegedly one of the coaches paid some of the living expenses and tuition for Dennehy or Dotson. I"ll search for an article to get the 411. :oS


earch Continues for Dennehy's Body
2 hours, 39 minutes ago

By ANGELA K. BROWN, Associated Press Writer

WACO, Texas - The family of missing Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy removed his belongings from his apartment Wednesday after more than a month of waiting and hoping he was alive. Authorities said they would continue searching for his body.


Dennehy's stepfather, Brian Brabazon, said police have told family members that Carlton Dotson, a former teammate who has been charged with killing Dennehy, provided investigators with three sites to search for his body.


Gravel pits and a river bank were searched Tuesday. A search Wednesday morning was delayed by rain.


Brabazon said the family planned to talk with police and tour the Baylor campus while in Waco.


"We appreciate your concern, but today we'd like to do what we have to do as a family," he told news reporters.


Also Wednesday, Baylor's athletic department faced questions about whether coaches made improper payments to Dennehy.


While lamenting the timing of the allegations, athletic director Tom Stanton said the university "has begun a vigorous internal inquiry independent of the athletic department to determine the facts in this situation."


"The investigation will be thorough," Stanton said. "We take these issues very seriously. We are hopeful questions about Patrick's first year at Baylor can be resolved quickly."


Among the allegations is 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.


The 6-foot-10 center's father, Patrick Dennehy Sr., said in published reports that De La Rosa, a track athlete at the University of New Mexico, reported what she saw to officials at New Mexico and they reported it to the NCAA (news - web sites).


The NCAA prohibits extra benefits to athletes. It's the organization's policy not to confirm or deny whether a school is under investigation.


De La Rosa, who was in Waco on Wednesday with Dennehy's mother and stepfather, confirmed she spoke to New Mexico officials, but declined to comment on what she said.


Dennehy Sr. 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 athletic official.


Dennehy's father, who lives in Tacoma, Wash., had been estranged from his son until the last few years. He said he was just now speaking up about the alleged financial favors because he was frustrated with Baylor for not keeping him informed about the investigation into his son's disappearance.

Dotson, 21, was charged Monday night with murder after he told FBI (news - web sites) agents in Maryland that he shot his teammate in the head after Dennehy tried to shoot him, according to the arrest warrant.


Dotson told the AP after his arrest that he "didn't confess to anything."


An Aug. 19 extradition hearing was scheduled for Dotson in Chestertown, Md. He remained jailed without bond near his hometown of Hurlock.





Dotson's attorney urged authorities to give information to him about his client's psychological condition. He said the jail told him results from a routine mental health screening were not available yet because Dotson had not signed release forms.

"We're trying to ascertain the stability of mind of my client over the past several weeks," said Grady Irvin Jr., of St. Petersburg, Fla. He said his client may not have been in the proper mental state to be questioned.

Dennehy, 21, was last seen on campus June 12; his family reported him missing June 19. The next day, Delaware police told Waco authorities that an informant said Dotson told someone he shot Dennehy in the head after the two argued.

Dennehy's Chevrolet Tahoe was found abandoned, without license plates, in a Virginia Beach, Va., mall parking lot June 25.

Dotson recently lost his scholarship and was not planning to return to Baylor in the fall.

Body found is positive ID of Baylor basketball player
 

Authorities positive ID body as Dennehy's

WACO, Texas -- Combing through chest-high weeds under the blazing sun, investigators' painstaking search uncovered key evidence that helped in identifying the body of Baylor University basketball player Patrick Dennehy, authorities said.

After finding a decomposed body in a field Friday night, authorities continued searching for a second day Sunday in the rural area about five miles south of Waco. They used farm equipment to cut down some weeds and grass up to 7 feet tall.

The site is just north of gravel pits where authorities searched last week after the arrest of Carlton Dotson, who played basketball at Baylor last season and had been living with Dennehy since spring.

McLennan County Sheriff Larry Lynch announced late Sunday that the Dallas County medical examiner's office had determined that the body was Dennehy's. He said he had notified the 21-year-old player's family.

"With that evidence collected today, they were able to make a positive identification," Lynch said, refusing to specify what evidence was found.

McLennan County Justice of the Peace Belinda Summers told The Associated Press that searchers found a head Sunday morning in the same field where the body was discovered.

Lynch has declined to say if the weapon has been recovered.

Sheriff's Capt. Paul Wash declined to comment Monday on new evidence in the case or possible motives.

"That's probably not something we're going to discuss," he said of motives. "We have an investigation to go through. We need to be able to process and work through and see where it leads us."

Dotson, 21, was arrested last week in his home state of Maryland on a murder charge from Texas in Dennehy's death. He remains jailed without bond, awaiting extradition to Texas.

Dotson was arrested July 21 after calling 911, saying he needed help because he was hearing voices, authorities said. Dotson told FBI agents in Maryland that he shot Dennehy after the player tried to shoot him, according to the arrest warrant affidavit. But after his arrest, Dotson told The Associated Press that he "didn't confess to anything."

Dotson's mother-in-law, Pam Bayuk, told Monday's editions of The Dallas Morning News that she began worrying about Dotson last fall, when she said he told her he was hearing voices, seeing visions and having trouble controlling his thoughts.

"He said he gets to thinking things, and even though he knows these things aren't true, he can't quit thinking them. I told him that can be a very dangerous thing and asked him to get some help," said Bayuk, wife of Sulphur Springs police Chief Jim Bayuk.

This spring, Bayuk said she spoke with one of Dotson's coaches at Baylor, telling him several times that she was worried about Dotson's mental stability. In a subsequent letter to the assistant coach in May, Bayuk described Dotson as "paranoid and delusional." The school, citing privacy laws, refused comment.

Dotson's attorney, Grady Irvin, said Monday that police have not shared any details of the investigation with him. He said he is focusing on determining whether there is a valid basis for extradition and is looking into whether an arrest warrant for Dotson was obtained properly.

Baylor President Robert B. Sloan Jr. notified faculty, staff, students and alumni Sunday night about the identification of the body, saying in an e-mail that "today our worst fears were realized."

He asked Baylor employees to pray for Dennehy's family and for Dotson. Sloan said a campus-wide memorial service would be held for Dennehy in the fall semester at Baylor, the world's largest Baptist university with 14,000 students.

"Baylor has endured the heart-wrenching loss of students before, but never in such a startling and perplexing manner," Sloan wrote. "... We grieve the loss of Patrick and the impact of that loss on the Baylor community."

The player's girlfriend Jessica De La Rosa sobbed when she learned the body was Dennehy's.

"We were still praying for a miracle," she said. "We didn't get a miracle."

But she said there was some comfort in knowing.

Dennehy's family has decided not to return to Waco, De La Rosa said Sunday afternoon.

"Technically, there's nothing we can do out there," De La Rosa said from her Albuquerque home.

Dennehy's mother and stepfather, Valorie and Brian Brabazon, and their teenage daughter traveled to Waco from their Carson City, Nev., home for the first time last week to retrieve the player's belongings.

The family and De La Rosa left Waco about noon Friday after a three-hour meeting with police, and said they believed Dennehy could still be alive. The Brabazons dropped off De La Rosa in Albuquerque early Saturday morning and left for their home Sunday before learning that Dennehy was dead.

Dotson and Dennehy arrived last summer in Waco, about 100 miles south of Fort Worth, on basketball scholarships.

Dotson was a transfer from Paris Junior College in East Texas and eligible to play. Dennehy, because of NCAA eligibility rules, had to sit out a year after transferring from New Mexico, where he was kicked off the team for losing his temper.

Dennehy's family reported him missing June 19, seven days after he was last seen on campus. Dennehy's vehicle was found abandoned in a Virginia Beach, Va., parking lot June 25.

An unnamed informant told Delaware police that Dotson told someone that he shot Dennehy in the head as the two argued while shooting guns in the Waco area, according to court documents filed in the case June 23.

Re: Body found is positive ID of Baylor basketball player
 

I saw on Fox News that the head was decapitated. Has anyone else heard this?

I'm so sad to hear this news.

Re: Re: Body found is positive ID of Baylor basketball player
 

Yeah, it was in the article.
I am sad to hear the news, but I am relieved that they have found him. Now his family and friends can have some peace.

Photo of Patrick Dennehy's family
 

The cat in the foreground is Brian Brabazon, Patrick Dennehy's stepdad. His mom, Valorie Brabazon, is in the center. His GF, Jessica De La Rosa, is at left. They didn't ID the girl at the right, but news articles say the Brabazons have a 15-year-old daughter, so that might be her.

http://eur.news1.yimg.com/eur.yimg.c...ll/l869866.jpg

I saw stepdad on TV before Dotson turned himself in. I think, don't quote me, that this man lives in Washington state and he and Dennehy were estranged. :confused:

DALLAS, Texas (CNN) -- Former Baylor University basketball coach Dave Bliss has admitted improperly paying tuition fees for Patrick Dennehy, and now audio tapes have turned up, indicating Bliss tried to get players to say Dennehy was involved in drugs -- as an attempt to hide the payments.

Dennehy's body was found after an extensive, weeks-long manhunt, and his friend and former teammate Carlton Dotson has been charged with his murder.

CNN anchor Bill Hemmer gets the latest developments from correspondent Ed Lavandera in Dallas, Texas.

HEMMER: The water may be getting a bit deeper for Dave Bliss. Audiotape transcripts quote him as saying, "Our whole thing right now, we can get out of this. There's nobody right now that can say that we paid Patrick Dennehy. Because he's dead, what we've got to create here is drugs." That's a quote from the transcript.

LAVANDERA: Since the death of Patrick Dennehy, investigators have been looking into NCAA rules violations in Baylor's basketball program. Investigators want to know whether Dennehy and some other players were being paid improperly to play basketball.

According to published reports in the Fort Worth Star Telegram and confirmed to CNN by the university's lead investigator, head coach Bliss allegedly asked several players and an assistant coach to give university investigators false information to protect the basketball program.

Bliss reportedly suggested that Dennehy be portrayed as someone involved with drugs.

The Star Telegram quotes Bliss as saying that, "If there's a way we can create a perception that Pat may have been a dealer, even if we had to kind of make some things look a little better than they are, that can save us."

Baylor assistant coach Abar Rouse taped three hours of conversations between himself, Bliss and several players in late July.

The university's lead investigator tells CNN that Bliss was confronted about these conversations last Friday and admitted to the conversations. Bliss was said to be shocked that he had been recorded.

Repeated attempts by CNN to reach Bliss and assistant coach Rouse have been unsuccessful.

Baylor officials say they feel betrayed by Bliss, who resigned as head coach on August 8.

Robert Sloan, president of Baylor University, said, "I'm outraged not only by his own deception, but his efforts to enlist players and assistant coaches in this scheme."

According to the Fort Worth newspaper, Bliss told them he was "completely wrong" in what he did and that he knows he's disappointed a lot of people.

I heard about this, this morning. Trying to lie and put the blame on someone who is no longer here to defend himself.

Although, this does bring up the much BIGGER issue of coaches/alumni recruiting potential players with the "illegal hook-up" so that they will come to their school to play ball.

College ball is a big nasty business.

But that's a topic for another thread.