March 7, 2011

03/02/11: David Mark, 24, Newton, MA

David Mark
David Mark, 24, of Albany, NY, had breakfast at his parents home on Wednesday, March 2, then left on a spur of the moment to visit his sister in the Chestnut Hill area of the Boston suburb of Newton, MA. Mark never arrived. His family was immediately concerned because David suffered from Type 1 diabetes and was dependent on insulin. He last had insulin on March 1 and did not have enough with him to treat himself properly, which put him in danger of becoming very disoriented, confused, or even lapsing into a coma. David also suffered from Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism that makes is difficult to communicate with people socially.

According to Robert Mark, because of his medical conditions and the length of time he had been missing, he very well could have looked disheveled, possibly even appearing to be homeless. He said that he may have left his contact lenses in too long causing his eyes to appear bloodshot. He also has an eye twitch and a condition that causes him to walk in a stiff manner. But both Robert Mark and police emphasized that the public should not be afraid to approach him; he needed emergency care. His family urged people to make contact with him, if they saw him. "Just walk up to him slowly and say, 'David, it looks like you need some help,' " said Robert.

Investigators determined that David Mark was last seen at the Boston Beerworks, near Fenway Park in Boston, MA. Police were led there by Mark's computer history, which showed he had looked up the bar before he left. Police were then able to verify through Mark's E-Z Pass records that he had been on the Massachusetts Turnpike heading into Boston. 

A waitress at the bar said she remembered seing Mark in the bar early that afternoon and that he was in "good spirits."

A cell phone tower detected that Mark's phone was in use soon after leaving the bar.

Mark’s car was found later near the Brimmer & May School at 10 Middlesex Road in the Chestnut Hill area. The location of the car was about a mile from his sister’s home. Mark was nowhere to be found. His family has left a note on the car in the event that he returns.

Witnesses told police that the car had been in the same spot since Wednesday.

Mark had about $40 cash in his wallet, and his debt card has not been used since he left Albany.

David Mark had just completed a master's degree in geography and G.I.S. at the State University of New York at Albany. Mark’s father, Robert, said that his son is very familiar with Boston and might be using the MBTA, particularly the Green Line. David also received a BA summa cum laude from the university in 2009 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

On Mar. 8, 2011, the body of David Mark was found on the shore in East Boston by a consultant for a local Boston fishing company. The body was found on the shoreline near 498 Meridian Street, downstream from the Andrew McArdle Bridge, after apparently drifting along the river. Police said that there were no signs of trauma.


Facts of Interest
Name/age: David Mark, 24
Last seen: 3/2/11, Boston Beerworks, Boston, MA
Physical description:  5'5", 150 pounds, dark hair, some facial hair. Last seen wearing: black leather waist jacket, a tan knit shirt with no collar, and black and gray Adidas sneakers.
Recovered: 3/8/11, East Boston near 498 Meridian Street.
Notes: IDavid requires insulin, and will need an ambulance and emergency treatment.
Investigating Agency: Newton Police, 617-796-2100.

Published 3/7/11.  Updated: 3/9/11, 3/18/11.

11 comments:

Louie said...

Lisa-

I was just going to email you about this young man but, as usual, you are on top of things!

I hope he is found safe, the combination of Asperger's (on the autism spectrum)and diabetes is frightening. The cold nights also are cause for concern.

I have seen many websites which have the ability to select a button to "share" info on Twitter, Facebook, etc. - can you do that with your website? Just something else I was going to email you about too!

Prayers for this young man and his family.

Lisa said...

Thanks, Louie. I do have this feature enabled, but for some strange reason it is not showing up. I will check into it. Thanks for the great idea!

In the meantime, everyone please help get the word out about David Mark!

Lisa said...

I was able to get the sharing buttons working. Thanks again, for notifiying me of this issue. Hope everyone will spread the word about David Mark!

Louie said...

Lisa - I see it now, thanks! I tried to post to my FB but it also posts the first post that someone has made here on your website :-( I tried it with a few of the posts and it did the same thing.

Sorry to be a pain...

I hope there is positive news coming soon for David Mark. I'm keeping the faith.

Louie said...

Very sad news:

"Police have identified a body found on the shore in East Boston as 24-year-old David Mark who had been missing since Wednesday."

http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/missing-mans-body-found-in-east-boston-20110308

My deepest condolences to his family and friends. This was not the outcome hoped for.

Monique777 said...

My sympathy to David's family and friends for this tragic ending. We were all hoping he would be found alive and well.

jake said...

I remember when these cases broke sometime in 2008, but I did not pay much attention to them then. When they started happening in Boston in the past year or two, I started to investigate them a little more. Aside from David Mark, a Boston College student also drowned within the past week, although he was not in Boston. What I dont get is why are the local authorities wherever these drownings occur ALL so quick to say no foul play was involved? I just dont get it. There is clearly a pattern going on here. I am not one for conspiricies or anything, but the way authorities all over the country are just shoving these under the rug as quickly as they can, makes me think some form of cover up is going on. Its just really strange. Another thing is why has this happened to not a single girl across the country? Girls drink just as much if not more than guys on a weekend, so chances are there would be roughly the same amount of girls "drowning" if these were truly accidental. Not only have there not been an equal amount of girls that this has happened to, I am pretty sure I have not even heard it happen to a SINGLE one, clearly leading me to believe these are not accidental because a specific type of person is being targeted.
One last thing. I forget the case, but in my research I seem to recall one instance where two men called the police over to a body of water where a kid appeared to be drowning. When the cop got there, one of the kids who called him over took off, and he was never seen from again until he showed up drowned. The kid in the water at the time the cop came over said "you dont know whats going on here" or something to that nature and started drifting off and drowned. There is so many things wrong with that case. Why didnt the cop go in and save the kid? Why did the other kid show up drowned and why did he run away? WHY ISNT THAT CASE BEING SERIOUSLY INVESTIGATED? SOMETHING STRANGE IS GOING ON HERE! I just dont understand why cops and authorities all over the country dont care about these cases.

jake said...

Also I should note, I dont think I have seen any autopsy results on the David Mark case. It is possible he didnt drown and some other form of foul play not involving the smiley face killers was going on ere, as East Boston isnt the best area. But even if he doesnt fit the profile, 60 plus men across the country do, and law enforcement is just slipping it under the rug. Makes no sense to me.

jake said...

And one last thing to note. If these are all murders rather than accidents you would think after 100 plus people had this happen to them AT LEAST 1 would have fought back and got away. Maybe its because I live in the city as opposed to middle of nowhere towns, but people around here carry knives and even guns for protection from stuff like this. You would think one time some kid would fight back with a weapon and injure the attacker or AT LEAST escape.

Lisa said...

@ Jake,

There have been a few girls who have disappeared who have met this pattern (one that comes to mind is Christina Whittaker), but no where near the level we are seeing with the men. As a general rule, missing women seem to get far more coverage in the media than missing men, so it's not like we aren't hearing about them. I think there really are more men disappearing that fit this pattern.

I think in the case you are referring to, it was the kid who said "you don't know what's going on here" to the cop before he entered the water. But you are totally right, the authorities are largely sweeping these cases under the rug.

It seems that authorities tend to believe that a drowning can only be either an accident or a suicide. The possibility of homicide by drowning is so rare, I don't think they even look for it. And once a case is closed, there is a great reluctance to go back and re-open it. Authorities also don't usually look into cases in other jurisdictions, so they aren't seeing the pattern.

There has been at least one case of a near-drowning---a man who woke up in the Mississippi River in La Crosse and pulled himself out---but he did not remember how he got into the water.

jake said...

This is all just very scary to me. Growing up I was always scared of gang violence etc, as there are a decent amount of gangs in the area. I would always avoid certain parts of the city where the gangs were based out of. There was the Boston Miracle in the 90s that brought about reduced violence, but it has since picked back up again the the later part of the 2000s decade. Anyways my point is that was always my fear when I was out, gang violence always in the back of my mind. After researching about these cases, I rarely even think about gang violence or stuff like that anymore. This stuff going on with the drownings is just way too scary and eery and its becoming my main fear. Luckily I dont drink or anything, but I know some of these cases involved people who had not dran anything either I think. Very scary stuff regardless. This stuff needs to get looked into.