David Torrence's Death Ruled an Accidental Drowning, But For His Family Questions Remain Because Of Death Threats

I think we all wanna believe that DT died a freak cardiac issue.

Winning wrote:

He was murdered is my feeling after reading the article.

Of course it is. That is exactly what they were going for. It's the winter olympics and and indoor season, the Brojos were low on their click quota, so they schlocked together an article that belongs in the Enquirer next to headlines about Prince Harry's freckle fetish. This piece was garbage as soon as it went past the medical opinions and dove into a lot of unsubstantiated reports of death threats. The kid drowned, it was tragic. There is nothing in the coroner's report to indicate any foul play. To speculate otherwise is ridiculous. This isn't "investigative". Investigative reporting brings answers, not speculation. This was tabloid.

Here, I can speculate and make it sound like journalism too:

His family obviously has some coronary risk, given his dad dying at a similar age. He crushed his workout that day in the AZ heat, so one can wonder if his electrolytes were out of whack and he was dehydrated; which can exacerbate underlying heart conditions. He obviously liked to test himself, and as a former competitive swimmer, I can tell you that doing underwater laps is a way to test your mettle. If he wanted to make his lungs scream and see how far he could push himself, underwater laps are a way to do it. If you want to know how often swimmers suffer heart attacks, look no further than triathlon mortality statistics. A heart issue that led to accidental drowning is the conclusion based upon all of the evidence, predicated on the medical opinion that the article presented and the coroner's report. Death threats are almost never acted upon, and if DT was concerned about them he would have contacted the police. That, coupled with the absence of any evidence of foul play, effectively rules out that conclusion. David's death was a tragic accident, and his death has left a hole in the running community that will not soon heal. But we at LRC will try our best to fill that void with baseless conspiracy and a large daily dose of douchebaggery while enabling a community of the most aggressive and butthurt bunch of perpetual adolescents this side of Fox News.

There... "journalism", LRC style. Was that speculative enough?

Good thread. I've been wondering for months what was taking the coroner so long to issue a report, even though I didn't think it was anything but an accident. On the other hand the revival of this story does serve to remind us of the public service David provided in calling out the Aden training group - and I'm sure he wouldn't mind us keeping that more prominently featured in the news. As for the death threats on Facebook, they are well worth getting access to if they exist. It's entirely possible that they are related to the public stand he took on the PED issue, and it seems possible (if improbable) that they could be traced back to someone.

Yes. Thank you.

MeJournalistToo wrote:

This piece was garbage as soon as it went past the medical opinions and dove into a lot of unsubstantiated reports of death threats. The kid drowned, it was tragic. There is nothing in the coroner's report to indicate any foul play. To speculate otherwise is ridiculous. This isn't "investigative". Investigative reporting brings answers, not speculation. This was tabloid.

Actually I think you're wrong. Reporting doesn't always bring answers it somtimes highlights things that are unanswered or need to be looked into further.

Now perhaps you'd like Jon to write story only on the autopsy and ignore what his mother and other close to David think about the investigation and the possible death threats he received? I'd say that 's poor journalism.

Even if David was alive today, I'd want the death threats looked into.

So where are the friends who told his mother there were death threats. Since his mother didn’t know about them, how about you ask the people who supposedly know?

My guess is the death threats thing is total bs. Anyway, why don’t you ask these friends?

Frickin amateur hour in here.

I agree with Occam's razor. As I think everyone with LetsRun has said in this thread, David dying of natural causes is still the most likely cause. But that doesn't mean we don't report on the family being unhappy with the investigation because they felt death threats were not looked into fully.

And I think you missed the quote below from the article. There is no coronary history for David to inherit in his family:

Didn’t David tell any of his runner friends about “death threats”?

Find something better than someone told someone that.

Why should the police investigate the death threat angle if they are confident with the medical examiner's finding? I understand why the family feels the way they do, but if the police have confidence with the medical examiner's report, I don't see why there is any need to investigate anything further.

Should whoever made the death threats be brought to justice? Probably, but that's a separate issue.

PhillyB wrote:

So where are the friends who told his mother there were death threats. Since his mother didn’t know about them, how about you ask the people who supposedly know?

My guess is the death threats thing is total bs. Anyway, why don’t you ask these friends?

I believe Jon cited 5 people in the article who said David mentioned the death threats.

1) David's friend Alex who wanted to remain anonymous to protect their identity

2) Paul Koros' -David's cousin.

3) Anna Fuka- David's ex girlfriend mentioned in police report

4) Steve Magness

Plus there is John Cook (what Cook told LRC is different than what he told the police)

his final workout posted on strava, the morning of his death, was titled "quarters of death." I'm surprised no one has mentioned that in anything I've read, and only one poster on this thread. It was 10 (or 12, can't remember) x400m with a short rest.

To me, that sounds like that workout that was unexpectedly harder than he'd anticipated it to be, a sign something may have been awry with his heart. Then drop into cold water to "refresh", could see how that could lead to cardiac arrest.

Another interpretation could be that he somehow had intended to commit suicide later that day, though that seems far less likely.

DC Runnerman wrote:

Why should the police investigate the death threat angle if they are confident with the medical examiner's finding? I understand why the family feels the way they do, but if the police have confidence with the medical examiner's report, I don't see why there is any need to investigate anything further.

Should whoever made the death threats be brought to justice? Probably, but that's a separate issue.

I see the argument it could be separate.

However, the timing of everything is important.

a) David's mother said she felt the detectives did not take the death threat thing seriously before they saw the medical examiner report.

b) The detective said she didn't get medical report until February 6th (last week). LetsRun.com had the report January 12th. But if it is only with the medical report that a non-accidental death could be ruled out then why weren't the reports taken more seriously before then?

If the detectives got the report back in December and came out and said "There is no way 100% someone could die like this and not have it be accidental" then fine I'd accept that. But that's not what happened.

wejo wrote:

PhillyB wrote:

So where are the friends who told his mother there were death threats. Since his mother didn’t know about them, how about you ask the people who supposedly know?

My guess is the death threats thing is total bs. Anyway, why don’t you ask these friends?

I believe Jon cited 5 people in the article who said David mentioned the death threats.

1) David's friend Alex who wanted to remain anonymous to protect their identity

2) Paul Koros' -David's cousin.

3) Anna Fuka- David's ex girlfriend mentioned in police report

4) Steve Magness

Plus there is John Cook (what Cook told LRC is different than what he told the police)

Yet not ONE person reported it to either the media or police.

Maybe a David was just messing with them. Sounds like David’s mom is having a difficult time

Btw the “death threats” were well over a year ikd.

I'm actually on Wejo's side on this one. That's a first. I agree with with Wejo.

As a close friend of David's since our early teens, I'm thankful for the follow up reporting here. Ever since I got the phone call on the Monday he was found, I have felt uneasy about the entire situation. The first thing I knew DIDN'T happen was suicide. There were people out there who speculated and that saddened me to think that even people who knew him would think something like that. Clearly, they didn't know him well. I will tell you, it is not at all possible that this was the case. The police report would have stated if it was. End of story on that.

David and I spent a lot of time in the pool during our high school training. He was very confident in the water. It is still hard for me to imagine what could have happened that night to cause this. I'm still shocked. I am of the same mind as his mother and family. There is something yet to be uncovered.

While I believe that we are all entitled to our opinions, I don't think bickering serves his memory well. I would love to see this thread help in deeper discovery and truly uncover every detail so we can all feel more at ease. I still can't believe he's gone, and I hope that, if there is something to find, it is found.

Show us the triathlon mortality stats. I don't buy it.

I've never heard of competitive swimmers doing underwater swimming laps.

The problem with this thread is that there are multiple plausible arguments given the confirmed information the general public has been made privy to.

On one hand, David had a history of heart conditions in his family. It is therefore not a stretch to think that a dip in a cold pool following a difficult aerobic training session in extreme heat might trigger something, especially if David had decided to hold his breath underwater.

On the other hand, David was a known whistleblower and several people close to him say he received death threats. It is entirely POSSIBLE (but, in my opinion, not likely) that he was killed in conjunction with his actions against people who distribute performance enhancing drugs. It is worth noting that master dopers both have the ability to make substances undetectable and have definitely killed whistleblowers before ("Icarus")

So while it is at this point unreasonable to assume foul play given a lack of concrete evidence, I would argue that there is enough evidence to continue investigating this theory.