According to WCCO, "The 400 pages of documents detail that friends were worried about Zamlen months before he disappeared. Two friends say Zamlen was deeply conflicted about his own sexual orientation. In the initial police report and witness statements, friends say Zamlen talked about possibly killing himself the night he disappeared." Police released the information because the case was ruled an accidental drowning, and the investigation is now complete barring new evidence or information.
However, the Dan's parents, Dale and Sally Zamlen, of Eveleth don't believe the case should closed. They cite numerous questions left unanswered in the case, such as how Dan Zamlen got down to the river from the bluffs without injury. St. Louis County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Uncini of Hibbing, who performed a second autopsy at the request of the family, said Zamlen did not have injuries that would suggest he tumbled or fell down the rocky or brush-filled slope like the one near where Dan Zamlen was last seen. “It is likely he drowned,"Uncini told the Duluth News Tribune, "but I feel the manner of death cannot be determined and requires more police investigation and/or access to existing police records." So the question that remains is how the case could be concluded when the additional police investigation recommended by the medical examiner was not done. "There are facts that the police didn’t look at; there are questions that are legitimate," said Sally Zamlen.
Also noted is the discovery of baseball with a smiley face on it as well as a sign marked with smiley face graffiti near the bluffs, evidence of a possible smiley face killer. Police say they were not able to connect the items to Zamlen's death, but the family has been in contact with the New York investigators looking into the smiley face killer theory.
In addition to the speculation raised by the graffiti, there appears to be varying accounts reported by witnesses who were at the party that night, including variations on what was said during Dan's final cell phone call. Many are left to wonder why the police are relying so heavily on witness statements when they appear to have so many holes.
Furthermore, a toxicology screening at the time of second autopsy uncovered the presence of Gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid [GHB] in Zamlen’s body. GHB is a powerful intoxicant, coined a "date rape drug," because it is easily slipped into someone's drink and can quickly lead to a loss of muscle control or even consciousness when combined with alcohol. While GHB can be produced naturally in the body, Uncini could not exclude the possibility that Zamlen had ingested it. Police reports indicate that Zamlen had been drinking, and while he may have brought his own alcohol to the party, there are indications that he could have purchased some alcohol at the party.
Police say they would not be able to charge hosts of the party in relation to Zamlen's underage alcohol use, because it would be difficult to prove that the hosts had provided him with any alcohol.
According to the Duluth News Tribune, "Sally Zamlen said she’s spent the past 10 months reading and re-reading the statements of her son’s friends and acquaintances. She’s searched the Internet seeking information on forensic pathology and stages of decomposition in a drowning victim. She’s offended that two female acquaintances of her son told police that he was suicidal because he thought he was gay and he told them he was going to kill himself that night. “My son can’t dispute that — he’s dead,’’ she said and added that there is no evidence that her son even talked to the women who made the claim. “I think he got in a vehicle and I personally believe he went into a diabetic coma, and whoever was with him thought he was dead and panicked,’’ she said. “That’s been my feeling since April 5. “I’m going to continue to go through this paperwork and continue to get more opinions and continue to gather more information,’’ she said.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Zamlen family at this difficult time.
Links:
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/159916/
http://wcco.com/video/?id=74777@wcco.dayport.com
http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/dan-zamlen%E2%80%99s-family-upset-with-closed-case
13 comments:
I believe this to be the case and I don't know if I posted it here in the comments or not, but my intution told me that the supposed "trivial altercation" that occured prior to his leaving the party involved him being made-fun of for his possible sexual orientation.
I feel so sad for him. His death was completely unnecessary.
There's still a lot of questions I would have for his supposed friends.
I also wanted to add that a lot of people won't buy that Dan might have been confused over his sexuality and killed himself or died accidentally, but please remember that this type of thing isn't normally made public, especially during the initial news stories when they are focused on finding him. This would be something that everyone would know not to talk about in public, to keep between themselves.
"I take issue with what the girls are saying because I would like them to prove their certification in determining that someone is suicidal, gay or has a drinking problem. I also take issue with the police department taking the girls' word for it and not doing anything beyond that point," said Sally Zamlen."
http://wcco.com/local/dan.zamlen.death.2.1480333.html
I agree with Mrs. Zamlen, even thought I tend to agree with the police on the death. Something just isn't right about his 'supposed' friends.
However, the other link listed gave the impression that Dan may have been in love with a guy(?) who didn't return his feelings. Does anybody know who this guy was and whether or not this guy was at the party? If Dan made a move and was rejected, especially if the guy was straight, then Dan may have been pushed over the edge. They guy could have been a homophobe and took harmless flirting the wrong way as well. I dunno.
But I do think more attention needs to be placed on his friends, especially the girls. At best they come across as not being true friends. At worst they might be hiding something.
My sympathies to the Zamlens for how you feel you were treated by the St. Paul Police and for the lack of closure you are feeling about Dan's death.
I don't know what happened to Dan but see it as being completely unnesseasry for the polive to reveal to the media Dan was supposedly struggling with his sexual orientation. Telling the public his friends were concerned because he was talking about suicide is one thing, but to make public Dan's supposed sexual struggles went a bit too far.
I am also blown away by the news article by Fox stating " Police files show tips suggesting Zamlen was a victim of Satanists who drink the blood of virgin males." Was this one looney caller's tip or were those really the majority of their tips? Jeeeees...people really think this way? I wish the police would have reported to the media some of the snae tips they recieved from the public. But then again, the Zamlens did say the police weren't even following on tips.
This article also has several reporting errors because they didn't check into the information before reporting what the police told them.One of these errors is that there were footprints going to the river. If this is true, then why did the police say they suspected Dan entered a vehicle and the search dogs flown in confirmed Dan's scent was lost on the street backing up what the police reported to the media.
And why wouldn't these "friends" contact his parents or talk to someone at St. Thomas if they had been worried about him for months and he said he was going to kill himself the night he went missing? The story about what was said that night on the phone has changed so many times I don't know what to believe anymore about what these "friends" say.
Dan's death, what a tragedy.
Sorry, probably a Freudian slip I forgot to post the link:
http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/
dpp/news/dan-zamlen%E2%80%99s-family-upset-with-closed-case
BITM
Thanks for the link. I agree, why would Sally Zamlen believe these "friends" who from the very beginning I had a bad feeling about. I kept saying the answers go back to the party. Are these the same friends that watched Dan drink with diabetes and didn't call 911 when Dan said he was going to kill himself and changed their story several times about what was said in his final phone calls? If so, why trust them?
The "unrequited love" they spoke of may have been a girl for all we know. I mean who knows, maybe he asked her out or made a move and she said I thought you were gay. That would be upsetting, especially if he was being given a hard time about possibly being gay by his "friends". That is IF the stuff in the papers is accurate.
Or as you said, maybe he was just goofing around with some guy who is a homophobe and this homophobe got a little too freaked out about this.
Monique777:
Very true. Also, just assuming he was gay, he might have made the mistake of thinking that his female friends would be supportive of him. That's not always the case as there are many females who do not approve of guys who are gay. Perhaps his female friends might have been the homophobes.
But yeah, it might have been a girl he fancied and that she had heard the rumors about him or something.
According to that article it sounded as if the police were relying on Dan being gay based off of just what 2 of his friends said. That's kinda suspicious, especially when you add that they claim he was suicidal yet they didn't mention him being suicidal at the time of his disappearance? I can imagine them wanting to keep it secret that Dan was gay or conflicted, but not to tell that he was suicidal? I don't understand that.
Those girls are fishy and need to be investigated. I just sense they know something that they definitely aren't telling.
You make some good points BITM.
Why did LE bring up Dan being suicidal that night if LE ruled his death an accident?
In my mind, because of the difficulty in accidentally entering the water, this would be the least likely scenario, an accident.
Did LE need more evidence to call it suicide vs. accident?
Maybe LE didn't mention Dan was supposedly suicidal the night he went missing after his body was found because the investigation was still open and they were checking out the girls who had made this claim?
Monique777:
You got some good questions too.
You know what popped into my mind? I was watching an episode of Dr. G a while back and she was talking about how people might get upset about with how she determines death, especially suicides. Basically. Dr. G was saying that it doesn't matter if the person changes their mind, if they took the steps to kill themself and then died, it's a suicide. I think she said something about someone jumping off a building and then changing their mind before they hit the ground, it's still suicide no matter what people claim.
Perhaps a similar thing happened, that Dan did do the steps to kill himself but that he changed his mind but it was too late? I don't know.
If I had the money, I would hire a private investigator to dig info on those girls and find out what, if anything, they are hiding. Something just isn't right there.
Dr. G is great. I even watched her wedding! Silly I know but really like her. Yes, I think suicide would be hard for any parent to accept. But LE ruled it an accident and I am not understanding this at all.
From the very beginning,there have been so many discrepant reports from the media and from the search group itself about Dan. I don't know what to believe anymore.
There were groups of students going house to house-one group would tell me Dan was drunk, the next would say he didn't drink much because he was diabetic. One group would say one thing and the next group would contradict this.
I would hear things during the search that could only be treated as rumor because there were so many contradictions. I heard all 3 dogs lost Dan's scent in the street and then I heard one dog followed Dan's scent all the way down the bluff (Sarah Garfunkle). This Vet seems pretty darn credible but then so does everyone else! I heard Dan wasn't very upset when he left the party and then I'd hear he was crying when he was talking to Anna Chapius. This was in addition to all the media discrepancies.
Seriously, when there are huge discrepancies in the media and among student searchers and amoung adult searchers I have a tendency to not believe anything I read or hear.
I, too, believe the Zamlen's would get much further if they hired a PI to investigate and at least talk to many of the people who attended the party the night Dan went missing, especially the two hosts. This may give the Zamlens the answers they are searching for.
I also have to disagree with Sally Zamlen- people don't need to be certified to see someone has a drinking problem or is struggeling with their sexuality or appears suicidal, especially if Dan said he was going to kill himself that night. BUT, if it was only the word of these 2 girls who can be placed at the party the night Dan went missing then I wouldn't trust a word of it. I really hope a PI looks into that party.
I have read the Zamlens have opted to work with Gannon to get answers-don't know if this is true because again, it came from the media. If it's true, then they are looking away from the party for answers.
My goodness, Monique! The degree of mental gymnastics you are going through in trying to convince yourself that Dan committed suicide is amazing. There are hundreds of thousands of gay teenagers right at this moment who are struggling with their sexual orientation. They face ridicule and scorn every day. None of them are going to take GHB and drown themselves in a frigid river tonight. Face it, someone slipped him a GHB mickey and pulled the stereotypical SFK routine on him.
@ CyPhy,
Gay or Bisexual teens have a high rate of suicide.
Also, I don't think Monique777 was doing any type of "mental gymnastics" nor do I think she even fully believes he was gay.
@ Monique777:
I hear you. The answer to the mystery of what happened that night can almost assuredly be connected to events and people at the party. That's the place to start any investigation and I am hoping the parents can afford a private investigator.
(I saw the wedding too! Dr. G is such a likeable person. I love the weird faces she gives when she's working on a body. I guess you never do get used to certain things! LOL)
@Cy Phy
I have no idea if Dan was gay or suicidal from a newspaper snippet given by only 2 girls. The only thing I have to say is if he was, it is sad he didn't get the support he needed and if he wasn't, it is sad he is not here to set us straight.
The only real question I have is what the other people who attended the party that night with Dan had to say and it would be good to hear from the people who were with Dan earlier that night.
@BITM
I felt silly saying I watched her wedding so glad you did too. And I still fall for Dr. G's faces and think she found something horrible when she hasn't at all.
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