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

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Winning wrote:

He was murdered is my feeling after reading the article.

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meddling kids wrote:

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wejo wrote:

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meddling kids wrote:

Jon is not well-served by the editorial feeding frenzy Weldon and Robert attempt to create around his solid reporting.

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I'm curious what you mean by this? Are you upset w some of decisions made with article or with this thread and how it's presented on homepage?

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The gentleman above articulated this more eloquently than I likely will, but since you asked, Weldon:

Jon did some good work on a short timeline to report this story. I'm well aware of how long the full police report has been available, and Jon covered significant ground following up with identified witnesses, family members and medical experts.

You still have questions. The appropriate course at this point would be to apply the available tools of journalism (research, FOIA requests, cultivated sources, follow-up interviews, etc.) to those questions. Instead, the editorial approach-- which, in my opinion, undercuts Jon's work-- is to push those questions to your message board for speculation and armchair quarterbacking by anonymous posters. Essentially, crowd-sourcing a closed death investigation because you doubt the conclusion. Given the nature of the message boards, those conversations would likely happen anyway, but you and Robert don't need to be in here fanning the flames and stirring the baser instincts of your audience.

Crowd-sourcing may deliver some answers, perhaps even correct ones, but the public speculative approach, in a milieu lacking editorial constraint, can also create unintended collateral damage. Just ask the innocent individuals incorrectly identified in the Boston Marathon bombing investigation.

Dig into the questions as responsible journalists.

Jon sought the counsel of medical experts on the heart question and came back with solid, professional quotes, but you've got Robert on here asking for free legal advice via email.

It feels shoddy, loose and disorganized, on the heels of a mostly well-reported initial story.

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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.

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LifeSkills wrote:
The speculation is so hilariously unlikely that it borders on hysteria. Occam's razor folks. The simplest explanation is usually the correct one. Family history of coronary issues (dad died at 31), stresses heart with intense workout in intense heat, goes for a swim, heart goes a little arrhythmic, blacks out and drowns.

It sucks because it is uncomfortable to think that we are not all invincible and inoculated against such seemingly banal ways of dying due to our physical fitness, and something as simple as a dip in the pool could trigger an event that leads to our demise. And yet, that is about a million times more likely than a conspiracy theory about murder. Face the discomfort. We are mortal, no matter how much we train and how untouchable we may feel. David's death was tragic, but he lived a great life and left his mark on the world. We should be celebrating that, not speculating on the different ways someone may have spiked his beer, injected him with something, or assaulted him from behind. There is no evidence to support that, and it sullies the lasting image of Big Wave charging down that frickin hill to Eye of the Tiger at 1am with a gaggle of drunks cheering him on.... or, even better, David Torrence, athlete from Peru, who wanted to inspire other runners in his mother's homeland. Let him rest. Let's celebrate the man he was.

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Bianca said she understands that some people may have assumed David Torrence died of a tragic hereditary health problem. It was reported by the San Jose Mercury News that Torrence’s father, Scott, died of a brain aneurysm at age 31 in 1992 and, like his father, David was 31 years old when he died. However, Bianca told LetsRun that the cause of death mentioned in the Mercury News’ story was incorrect; thus there was no abnormal condition to inherit.

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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?

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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.

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wejo wrote:

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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?

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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)

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MeJournalistToo wrote:

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Winning wrote:

He was murdered is my feeling after reading the article.

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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?

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