Police find body just outside Waco

twodollarpistols · July 22, 2003

WACO, Texas -- The search for the body of missing Baylor University basketball player Patrick Dennehy centered Tuesday on a gravel pit and the banks of the Brazos River just miles from an apartment he shared with the former teammate accused of killing him.

Carlton Dotson, charged with the murder of Patrick Dennehy, is led into the Kent County, Md., district court house on Tuesday.

Law enforcement sources have confirmed to ESPN that a body has been found just outside of Waco, but there was no immediate word as to whether it was Dennehy.

As of 4 p.m. ET, members of Dennehy's family told ESPN they had not been told by police as body had been found.

Carlton Dotson, 21, was charged Monday night with murder after he "made strong self-incriminating statements'' when he talked to FBI agents about the disappearance of his roommate Patrick Dennehy, said Joseph Flanagan, deputy state's attorney in Kent County, Md. Dotson lives in nearby Hurlock, Md.

Dennehy has been missing since mid-June. A police informant told police that Dotson told a cousin that he shot Dennehy in the head after the two argued.

Law enforcement officials, some on horseback, searched the river banks and a gravel pit surrounded by pastures, tall grass and sunflowers just miles from the Baptist-affiliated university where the two played basketball last season.

A news conference by Waco Police was planned for 5 p.m. ET.

The search began after Dotson talked with authorities. He told a reporter outside the courthouse Monday: "I didn't confess to anything.'' He was ordered held without bond Tuesday morning.

Dotson's estranged wife said Tuesday that he needs psychological help, but that she does not believe he killed Dennehy.

An extradition hearing was set for within 30 days after the defense refused to waive the right to such a hearing and allow the Maryland man's immediate transfer to Texas.

Outside the courtroom, defense attorney Sherwood R. Wescott said the decision not to waive extradition was "a strategic move.'' He would not comment on whether Dotson had confessed to killing Dennehy.

Waco police Sgt. Ryan Holt 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 searched there Monday night, but would not elaborate. He said the department would not comment further until the news conference.

"Carlton, if you know where our son is, please let us know,'' Dennehy's mother, Valorie Brabazon, said Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America.'' She said she still feels "that my son is out there somewhere alive.''

Dotson's relatives have told authorities that Dennehy's body is "buried in a large body of water,'' the Waco Tribune-Herald reported, citing a source close to the investigation.

Dotson came to Chestertown, about 55 miles from his hometown of Hurlock, on Sunday and Coryell said he used his cell phone to call 911. Police said they weren't sure why he came to Chestertown. Wescott's law partner, Purcell Luke, said in court Tuesday that Dotson's mother has lived in the Chestertown area for three years.

When officers arrived, Dotson told them he "needed counseling'' and was hearing voices, Coryell said.

The officers took him to a hospital, where he was evaluated but not admitted. While still at the hospital Monday afternoon, Dotson asked to speak with FBI agents, authorities said.

Calls to the FBI were not returned.

Dotson's estranged wife, Melissa Kethley of Sulphur Springs, Texas, said she cannot believe Dotson killed Dennehy. She wouldn't elaborate or discuss their marriage.

She said that although Dotson called and told her Monday that he was talking with the FBI, he didn't tell her he had been to the hospital.

"But I've known that he's needed psychological help for a very long time,'' Kethley said, crying, during a telephone interview. "He needs help, the boy needs help. ... Maybe, if he did do this, it's a blessing in disguise, and he can get the help he needs.''

Dennehy's vehicle was found June 25 in Virginia Beach, Va.

Friends say Dennehy told them that he and Dotson obtained guns because they were being threatened. Dennehy's family also claimed the 6-foot-10, 230-pound forward told coaches he feared for his life.

Edited July 22, 2003 by twodollarpistols