Authorities Work to Determine Whether N.C. Teen Delvonte Tisdale Fell From a Plane
Body of Delvonte Tisdale identified in Milton, Mass.
Nov. 23, 2010 — -- Authorities are investigating whether the North Carolina teen who was found battered to death on the side of a Massachusetts road more than 800 miles from home fell to his death from an airplane.
Remains found in Milton, Mass., last Monday have been identified as Delvonte Tisdale, 16, and one line of investigation is whether the ROTC cadet had been a stowaway in an aircraft.
"The investigation remains active and ongoing on multiple fronts," David Traub, a spokesman for Norfolk District Attorney William Keating, said in a statement.
But an airport spokesman confirmed that he had been asked for information regarding the flights that flew over the area where Tisdale's body was found.
"I got a call about the possibility of a stowaway in one of the nose-wells of an aircraft," Logan International Airport spokesman Phil Orlandella said. "While I can't confirm that [he fell], we were asked to look into the flight tracks of who flew in over that community on the day [Tisdale] was found."
Orlandella said the area of Milton is on a common flight path to Logan airport in Boston.
D.A. spokesman Traub said Monday that investigators were working on "a number of leads."
He declined to comment on media reports that Tisdale was found with his arms and legs broken and with visible damage to his head.
Authorities also declined to comment on reports that a school hall pass had been found with Tisdale and had helped to identify him, saying only that fingerprints from Tisdale had been matched to items investigators had taken from his home in North Carolina.
Tisdale was one of 17 children, a member of the ROTC at North Mecklenburg High School and had no criminal history.
Maj. Mark Miller, who taught Tisdale in his ROTC classes, told ABC News' Charlotte affiliate WCOS that the program's other 125 cadets have been hit "hard" by their peer's death.
"It's personal," he said.
In a paper about his goals, Miller said, Tisdale had written, "I want to be a high ranking marine officer."
Miller said Tisdale could almost always be found wearing his full uniform or ROTC sweatshirt. Tisdale would spend dozens of hours at school and would sometimes have to be asked to go home, Miller said.
"He liked us enough that we had to send him away sometimes in between classes," he added.
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