April 29, 2025 • 36 mins
The peaceful suburb of Yorktown, Virginia became the backdrop for a harrowing mystery when 12-year-old Sean Daugherty was found hanging from a swing set in his family's backyard on April 14, 2022. What initially appeared as a tragic suicide quickly unraveled into something far more perplexing.
Sean was the kind of boy who embodied childhood joy – a straight-A student who loved Star Wars, video games, and had just returned from a Disney cruise with his family. With his mother's exciting new position at the Pentagon and upcoming family trips on the horizon, Sean had everything to live for. Nothing in his behavior suggested depression or suicidal thoughts.
Yet the circumstances surrounding his death defy simple explanation. Found wearing his stepfather's clothes with his arms bound tightly to his sides, a motorcycle helmet bag over his head, and his broken glasses lying nearby – how could a 12-year-old have orchestrated this alone? His toes were touching the ground, meaning he could have stood up at any time to relieve the pressure on his neck. His feet were mysteriously clean despite the muddy yard. His two-year-old brother, found hiding under laundry, reportedly told his mother about a "friend" chasing and punching Sean.
What happened in the short window between 3:30 PM when Sean set an alarm to take out the trash and 4:45 PM when his sister discovered his body? Why has information about this case seemingly vanished from the internet? And most importantly, why are authorities so resistant to reinvestigating despite the bizarre circumstances?
The Daugherty family continues their fight for answers through their "What Happened to Sean" Facebook page, refusing to accept the suicide ruling that contradicts everything they knew about their son. Their story is a powerful reminder that behind every headline is a family searching for truth and justice.
Join us as we examine the evidence, timeline, and unanswered questions in this baffling case that continues to haunt all who hear it. Whether you're a true crime enthusiast or simply someone who believes in seeking truth, Sean's story will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about this case.
Sources:
https://sandhillssentinel.com/obituary-for-sean-patrick-daugherty/
https://www.wtkr.com/news/what-happened-to-sean-questions-remain-a-year-after-yorktown-boys-death
https://www.yahoo.com/news/happened-sean-york-county-boy-180500463.html
https://www.gofundme.com/f/what-happened-to-sean
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5wzJlFKKQ
Music:
Crime Trap by Muza Production
Sad Trap Beat by BRVAN
Suspense Background Music by ArctSound
Gone in a Blink is created by Heather Hicks and Danielle E.
Written and produced by Heather Hicks and hosted by Danielle E. and Heather Hicks.
Gone in a Blink theme: Crime Trap created and produced by Muzaproduction
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Email us with comments and/or ideas for an episode at goneinablinkpod@gmail.com
Thanks for joining us on the airwaves. And remember......Be Safe, Be Smart, and Try Not to Blink.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
A young 12-year-old boy with everything to live for
is home after school watchinghis two-year-old brother.
Is home after school watchinghis two-year-old brother.
He's a very responsible youngman who does exceptionally well
in school, as described by histeachers.
He loves all the things that atypical 12-year-old boy is into,
(00:39):
including video games, starWars and Disney.
He is loved by his parents, histhree siblings and everyone who
knew him.
He is a happy child, which iswhy his parents have been
fighting so hard to find out whytheir beloved son was found
(01:04):
dead in their backyard on theafternoon of April 14, 2022.
The police claim it was asuicide, but based on evidence
surrounding his case, thingsjust don't seem to add up.
Case.
Things just don't seem to addup.
This is the case of SeanDoherty and this is Gone in a
(01:34):
Blink.
Hey, true crime fans, I'm yourhost, heather, and I'm Danielle.
Welcome to episode 37 of Gonein a Blink.
I hope everyone had a wonderfulEaster.
It was a very rainy one at ourhouse, so the kiddos did an
(01:59):
Easter egg hunt indoors, whichwas something different than
what we normally do, but theystill got to do one nonetheless,
and we colored Easter eggs andjust kind of laid low this
Easter.
Danielle, what'd you do?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
It was a lot of laying low my poor little doggie
.
He got injured, so he's in oneof those cone things and so
can't really move around a wholelot and with it raining out it
just kind of made for a sleepySunday.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Yeah, that's pretty much the way I could describe it
too.
It was just.
It was really rainy and nastyout, but it was a good day
nonetheless.
So today's case is one out ofYorktown, virginia.
Today we are talking about thestrange and mysterious death of
12-year-old Sean Doherty.
(02:49):
So if you're ready, let's jumpright in.
Sean Patrick Doherty was a lotlike most 12-year-old boys.
He loved Star Wars, playingvideo games, particularly
Fortnite, and all things Disney.
He also had a passion forreading.
In fact, it was reported thatat one point he even spent $107
(03:13):
of his own money on new books ata book fair.
Sean was described by friendsand family as having a strong
love for life.
He was a sixth grader at TabbMiddle School, where he was a
straight A student.
He even had dreams of one daybecoming president.
Sean lived on Sandalwood Lane inan upscale neighborhood in the
(03:36):
town of Yorktown, virginia.
There he resided with hismother, ramona, and his
stepfather, jared, both who werelieutenant colonels in the US
Air Force.
Also living in the home wereRamona's 79-year-old mother,
vijja, sean's 16-year-old sister, maria, and his two
half-brothers, who were justfive and two.
(03:57):
Yorktown is a small community.
However, it is part of YorkCounty, which is actually much
bigger, with a population ofsomewhere around 66,000.
So April 14th 2022 started outpretty much like any other day,
really.
Sean got off the school busaround 3.02 PM just as his
(04:20):
mother, ramona, was leaving totake her mother to a doctor's
appointment.
Jared was with herfive-year-old son in
Williamsburg, which wasapproximately 40 minutes away.
Ramona told Sean that sheneeded him to watch his
two-year-old brother until hissister, maria, got home.
Maria had an after-schooltennis match and was expected to
(04:42):
be home around 4.30 pm.
Sean had no problems with thatand in fact, he loved watching
his little brother, so Sean waslooking forward to playing
Fortnite with his friends andjust hanging out with his little
brother.
However, he was always reallygood about completing his
schoolwork first.
(05:02):
So at 3.09 pm, sean turned inhis online homework assignments
and along with his homeworkassignment, he also attached a
selfie.
In that picture, sean was stillwearing the shirt and shorts
that he'd worn to school thatday.
This will become very importantlater in the story.
So around 3.27 pm, ramonacalled Sean to suggest that he
(05:26):
bring his little brotherupstairs with him while he
played video games, and that hecould let his little brother
just watch a tablet and justkind of hang out with him.
At 3.30 Sean's alarm went offthat he had set to remind
himself to take out the garbage.
He went downstairs and made asnack that consisted of jarred
(05:46):
peaches, and then he proceededto gather the trash from around
the house.
It was around this time that thefamily claims to have sort of
lost track of Sean's movements.
So around 4.45 pm Sean's sister, maria, arrived home and was in
a bit of a hurry.
She had plans to get ready andquickly change clothes because
(06:09):
her boyfriend, aj, and hismother were planning on swinging
by the house to pick her up andtake her with them to AJ's
lacrosse game later that evening.
When Maria got home, shediscovered that the front door
was locked.
She rang the doorbell andknocked profusely.
However, no one ever came tothe door.
(06:29):
She then called and texted Seannumerous times and still there
was no answer.
She then decided to call hermother, and her mother really
wasn't too concerned at thatpoint because she figured that
Sean was upstairs playing videogames and couldn't hear his
phone or the door anyway.
By this time.
Maria was getting irritated, soshe decided to go around to the
(06:52):
back of the house and check theback door, much to her surprise
.
When Maria rounded the cornerinto the backyard, she saw a
figure their back was facingMaria, and they had a string
hanging from their neck that wastied to the swing set.
There was a black bag overtheir head, and their arms were
(07:14):
tied to their waist with whatappeared to be a belt.
They were dressed in men'sbaggy clothing, and Maria's
whole body shivered in completeterror.
She had no idea who the personwas, and so she called out to
them and was just like hey, butthere was no answer.
(07:34):
She began to move a littlecloser to the figure, and that's
when her heart sank.
It was Sean.
He was barefoot, with his kneesbent, his toes were dragging
across the ground, his handswere discolored from the lack of
circulation and in a completestate of shock and panic
(07:55):
combined.
Maria ran to her brother andtried to lift him up so that she
could relieve the pressure onhis neck and somehow get the
noose off.
She called 911 at 4.45 pm.
She performed CPR on Sean untilmedics arrived shortly after,
and meanwhile Ramona and Vijaywere on their way home when they
(08:16):
saw ambulances and fire trucksspeeding past them in a hurry,
and Ramona was just praying thatthey weren't heading to her
house, even though they weregoing in that direction.
So when Ramona and her motherarrived home, her worst fears
became a reality.
When she saw her home swarmingwith EMTs, she jumped out of the
(08:38):
car and raced into the backyardwhere she saw her son lying on
the ground surrounded by EMTs.
They were trying to revive Seanand at one point one of the
medics yelled out I got aheartbeat.
Unfortunately, this wasshort-lived and Sean was
pronounced dead at RiversideRegional Medical Center in
Newport News.
(08:59):
When Ramona went inside thehouse, she found her
two-year-old son hiding under apile of laundry.
Inside the house, she found hertwo-year-old son hiding under a
pile of laundry.
Sean's crux were tossed to theside near the trash that had not
yet been taken out.
This was all so confusing, forthe family.
Police investigated the sceneboth inside and outside of the
house, and later the autopsyreport from the state office of
(09:23):
the chief medical examiner wouldstate the following Sean was
found partially suspended by ashoelace that was tied to the
swing set.
There was a nylon bag over hishead and a belt strapped around
his abdomen, tying both of hisarms to his side.
He was dressed in his father'sclothes and was barefoot.
(09:45):
His glasses were found on theground near where his body was
discovered.
Inside his parents' bedroom,sean's underwear was found on
the floor and the dresserdrawers were all open.
The medical examiner, much tothe family's surprise, ruled
Sean's death a suicide.
Now, this was a major shock tothe family, obviously, and yet
(10:10):
nothing about these findingsmade any sense.
It was reported that somereporters at Local News 3 got
hold of a document that had beenwritten by an ER doctor
claiming that Sean had a historyof suicidal ideation.
However, the medical examinermade a note in his report that
Sean had no history ofdepression or suicidal ideation.
However, the medical examinermade a note in his report that
(10:31):
Sean had no history ofdepression or suicidal ideation.
And still the medical examinerruled Sean's death a suicide.
Police raised the possibilityof bullying into their
investigation.
However, ramona and Jared werepretty firm in their beliefs
that there were no indicatorsthat Sean was being bullied.
(10:52):
Sean's family says that Sean washappy in the weeks before his
death and had a lot to beexcited about.
They had just returned from aDisney cruise and were already
planning their next vacation,and just two days before his
death, ramona had taken her sonto renew his passport and Sean
was so extremely excited aboutthis.
Aside from their next upcomingtrip, ramona had just accepted a
(11:17):
new position working at thePentagon and the family was
planning for an upcoming move,and Sean was absolutely ecstatic
about that as well.
Sean was over the moon withexcitement about moving, but
also the fact that his mom wouldbe working at the Pentagon, and
he couldn't wait to tell all ofhis friends.
He dreamed of one day gettingto take a tour of his mom's
(11:38):
future job and even get some ofthe iconic chocolate candies
with the building stamped onthem.
So on Ramona's first day at hernew job, she went into the
chocolate shop and bought one.
It now sits next to Sean'spicture.
According to an article in YahooNews, the night before Sean
passed, ramona bought somecookies and a few of them were
(12:00):
Sean's favorite, which wascarrot cake.
He was so excited about thosecookies he couldn't stop talking
about them and how deliciousthey were.
Jared recalls quote.
Every night, no matter what, hewould come up and follow Ramona
around.
He would just follow her aroundall over the place and talk to
her about whatever they talkedabout, and that was the same
(12:23):
thing the Wednesday night beforehe passed.
Unquote.
Jared would go on to say thatevery time the catch-up sessions
, as he liked to call them, gotfinished, he'd turn and look at
his parents and say, well, goodnight, guys, I love you.
And then he'd bounce back downthe hall.
So how is it that police areruling Sean's death a suicide?
(12:47):
I'm sure that when somethinglike this happens, the family
goes into a state of shock aswell as a sense of denial.
No one wants to believe thattheir loved ones are capable of
this or that it's ended likethis, and I can definitely
understand where they're comingfrom.
However, I feel like nothing inthis particular case is really
adding up.
So I don't believe that thiswas a suicide, and I will break
(13:11):
it all down and kind of recapwhat we have as far as the
evidence goes here in a littlewhile.
But I just feel like there aremore questions than answers with
this.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Well, and first of all, I feel so, so bad for the
family and any friends that Seanleft behind.
It's just when anything likethis happens, it's just tragic,
and from what you're sayingright now, it doesn't seem like
a suicide, other than, I guess,what they're finding in the
(13:41):
house as far as him wearing hisdad's clothes and just kind of
how they found him.
I guess something that kind ofcomes to mind to me is that in
these cases so I have heard,like with the video game
community, I have heard somethings that I mean probably
should do some research on aboutFortnite For a while that
(14:03):
that's been pretty controversial, especially for younger kids,
because of just kind of thecontent that goes over.
That it has been connected tokids hurting themselves and then
to bullying.
Then also it's an onlinecommunity where people that you
don't know you have theopportunity to play with them
(14:25):
and they can cause trouble aswell.
It's easy to bully somebodywhen you can't see them face to
face, or to act like a bullybecause you're not connecting
like a face or even knowing thisperson, and so who knows what
could have been going on.
That's what I'm wondering ifthat's where the police come in,
(14:47):
of thanking this because ofjust kind of they've seen this
over and over again At thispoint, from what you're telling
me, that doesn't necessarilymean that this case is a suicide
.
I'm hoping we have otherinformation that we can tie this
all together.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Well, I definitely know what you mean about certain
games and being able tointeract with other people and
there can be bullying and therecan be online predators that are
searching for kids.
Roblox is another game that hashad I guess I could call them
(15:25):
incidences in the past withthings like that and online
luring of children, and so withany game like this where you're
interacting with strangers,basically you run the risk of
this and this isn't out of therealm of possibilities, that
something like that happened.
I'm hoping that police lookedat that route.
(15:46):
I don't know, I haven't foundanything about that, but that is
something that could be apossibility.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Something that comes across my office too many times
and it really just irks me isthat there's like kind of a
slain nowadays for, like you seeit about fifth grade on into
high school that they use like asaying, like a gesture of like
oh you should go kill yourself.
(16:14):
And to an adult or even atherapist, I mean that is like
what, are you serious?
But to kids that age they'renot actually meaning that.
That means that like to themthat oh, that really sucks.
And anytime, of course, I comeacross a student that's either
(16:34):
had that used upon them or usingit themselves, I probably turn
into mama mode or whatever,because I'm like you do not say
that, because you don't knowwhat's on the other side of that
.
Someone could take that as youknow what I should and do things
that maybe, if we wouldn't havesuggested it, not taking it to
(16:56):
that level that's where kind ofthe bullying comes in too is
that people use it as like abullying tactic, but not really
understanding how far that maycome to somebody that's
suffering with any kind ofanxiety or depression.
I mean, you think about if yousuggest something over and over
again to someone I don't care if, even if you're an adult, it's
(17:19):
hard to like to differentiate of.
You start thinking of that.
You know, maybe I should, maybethat this would be the right
reaction, and so this kind ofreminds me of that as well.
If there was some kind ofbullying, it's just something,
even in 2022, I see all the timeof those gestures that to kids
(17:39):
don't mean that and definitelythe intent is not for them to
actually do it, but a personthat has that mental health
issue at the time uses it asthat.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Yeah, I've actually heard of kids that use that
terminology or that saying, andwhile some might mean it, I
think yeah, I think a lot oftimes too kids are just saying
it without really havinganything behind it, but the
recipient of that might bedealing with other things and
(18:10):
take that totally to heart, andit infuriates me when I hear
kids say that.
So I definitely know whatyou're coming from, but after
Sean was found in the backyardof his home, neighbors began to
flock to the family's residence.
After questioning multipleneighbors, police were
discouraged and yet baffled atthe fact that no one saw a thing
(18:34):
.
One neighbor even had asecurity camera that was
pointing directly into Sean'sbackyard.
However, are you ready for this?
That particular security camerahadn't worked in years.
How many times do we hear that?
I mean, can you imagine theyhave a camera pointing directly
(18:57):
into the backyard that couldhave solved this entire thing,
and yet it wasn't working.
I become speechless at thispoint, I swear.
So it was also discovered thatthere had been a landscaper
working in the yard next doorright around the time that Sean
died.
However, he claims that henever saw a thing.
(19:19):
How is that even possible?
I'm not sure how tall the fencewas in the backyard, so that
could be why the landscapernever saw anything.
But it's just so strange to methat this happened in the middle
of the day in broad daylightand no one sees a thing.
The family very stronglybelieves that Sean was murdered
(19:41):
and they have started a petitionin the hopes of having the case
turned over to the FBI, and Ireally hope this happens,
because the evidence surroundingthis case is just incredibly
strange and I want to just sortof go through what I've found,
and I guess I want to start offby saying that I was completely
shocked at how very little thereis online regarding Sean's case
(20:06):
, especially considering howvery well known this case
actually is.
This was definitely a red flagfor me because it was as if
someone had erased mosteverything about Sean's case
from the internet.
It was really weird and I hadlooked up this case many, many
years ago and I feel like therewas actually more back then.
(20:30):
Maybe heck, maybe it wasbecause it was a newer case.
It had just happened, but itstill wasn't that long ago.
I've looked up cases from 30,40 years ago that still there's
quite a bit about it, but thiscase is too new still for there
not to be really anything.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Right, it was just about, maybe about three years
ago, 2022, right, april of 2022.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yeah, so that's pretty new 2022.
We're in 2025.
So there should be a lot allover the internet and there's
just not.
As I mentioned earlier, sean'sarms were tied to his side by a
belt.
It was reported that the beltwas so tight that even EMTs had
trouble removing it from histiny little arms.
(21:21):
How would Sean have tied his ownarms to his side, much less tie
the knot so tight that severalgrown adults would have trouble
untying it?
Then, when Sean was found, hewas barefoot and it was reported
that his toes were touching theground.
And because of this, if Seanhad really committed suicide at
any point, he could have simplystood up to relieve the pressure
(21:44):
on his neck from the noose, andyou would think, even if
suicide was his intent, that itwould be one's natural instinct
to stand up once their bodystarted to become deprived of
oxygen and that's where thepolice are drawing the
conclusion of suicide because,as you had said, his toes were
touching, he could have juststood up, and the fact that he
(22:07):
didn't you know you make aninteresting point that how would
he have tied his own belt?
Speaker 2 (22:11):
and for the EMTs to have had such a struggle?
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Well, and I feel like your natural instinct is going
to be even if you are trying tocommit suicide, if you are able
to touch at all, wouldn't thatbe your natural instinct when
your body starts going throughthe process of struggling for
air?
To me and maybe I'm wrong,maybe I'm wrong about this, but
(22:38):
to me that would be like tryingto suffocate yourself and always
have the ability to let go.
He could have stood up at anypoint.
That doesn't make sense to me.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Right that he could have, or like the suffocation,
but the thing is is that peopledie of suicide in those matters
all the time, so it's almostlike they're fighting that
natural reaction.
What I'm wondering in this case, could he have already been
dead and they were trying tomake it look like a suicide?
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Well, that's kind of the direction that I'm going
with my own personal opinion andthat seems to be like kind of
the consensus for social mediacommenters to feel the same way.
I mean everything I'm seeing.
I read things on Reddit justkind of seeing what everybody
else thinks, and that seems tobe the theory.
(23:30):
Also, sean's family reportedthat Sean hated to be barefoot,
yet his Crocs were found tossednear the garbage can in the
kitchen.
It was also reported that thebottom of Sean's feet were clean
, yet the family reported thatthe ground in the backyard was
wet and muddy that day.
Major Ron Montgomery of theYork County Sheriff's Department
(23:54):
, however, refutes this claim.
Instead, he claims that imagesfrom that day show that the
backyard was dry.
What's strange about MajorMontgomery's claim is that there
are no images found anywhere onthe internet that can back up
his claim.
They somehow have all beenwiped away.
As I mentioned, because Isearched.
(24:14):
I searched hard.
Now I feel like way back when Imight have, when I was
researching this case or justkind of reading about this case,
I feel like I did see someimages of the backyard.
I can't remember what they wereexactly and I definitely don't
remember seeing images aboutwhether or not the backyard was
muddy versus dry, but I can'tremember what they were exactly
and I definitely don't rememberseeing images about whether or
not the backyard was muddyversus dry.
But I don't know why the momwould say that if it wasn't true
(24:39):
.
So that doesn't even make sense.
But the fact that Sean's feetwere completely dry even if it
was kind of dry that day, theywouldn't be clean.
If you're walking across thebackyard you're going to have
something on them, I would thinkso.
Next we have the fact thatSean's glasses were found broken
on the ground not far fromwhere the swing set was, and
(25:02):
family members have stated thatSean couldn't see a thing
without his glasses.
So how did Sean's glasses endup broken?
And if Sean couldn't seeanything, how did he tie himself
up?
It was also reported thatSean's head was covered with a
nylon bag.
So not only was he unable tosee without his glasses, but he
(25:24):
also supposedly tied himself upwith a bag over his head because
, you know, he couldn't tie hisarms to his side and then place
the bag over his head.
It had been reported that thebag used was a motorcycle helmet
bag that Jared had in thegarage.
The shoelace type string wasthe drawstring from that bag.
(25:45):
Why go to all this trouble?
And why put a bag on your head?
And how are you doing all ofthis?
Practically blind, because youdon't have your glasses on and
you can't see without yourglasses, but it wouldn't matter
anyway, because you have a bagover your head.
How is this 12-year-old able tomanage all of this?
(26:05):
And if you're going to killyourself, why go through all the
trouble?
Speaker 2 (26:10):
To be fair, that argument can be for anybody that
commits suicide is you know, Iguess, of our thinking of why to
go to all that trouble.
But you're bringing up somereally good points that for him
to have committed suicide, itseems like he would have had to
have planned this out for a longtime and then to be able to
(26:34):
have, he couldn't see to havethe bag in a position to go over
his head at the right time and,yeah, it doesn't seem like it
would work.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
It just seems like a lot of work when the outcome is
going to be the same.
I don't know, but Sean's familyreports that he had his alarm
set at 3.30, which I mentionedreminding himself to take out
the trash.
When Ramona got home shenoticed that the kitchen bags
had been removed and new bagsput in their place.
(27:08):
However, sean hadn't taken thetrash out.
Ramona claims they found torntrash bags with blue strings in
the kitchen, but that shedoesn't know where they came
from because she only buys theones with the red handles from
Costco.
And I'm not too sure where thisfits into the equation.
Although it is strange, I'm notsure that if someone came into
(27:30):
the house and killed Sean, thatthey would have brought their
own trash bags and then leftthem.
That seems a little out ofreach and I don't know that
she's really insinuating that,but she found him out of place
nonetheless.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
She's pointing it out because I mean she's looking
for every little thing to provethat her son did not kill
himself, and he may likely didnot.
That's just one thing.
I mean, she usually has red tietrash bags, not blue, which is
odd that where would these havecome from?
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Oh, definitely.
It's definitely something thatshe's pointing out, because
she's probably analyzing everybit of that day, and I would be
too, so I definitely don't blameher in the least bit, but it
seems a bit weird, about thetrash bags, for sure.
(28:22):
Next, there were reports thatwhen Jared and Ramona went
upstairs, they found that thethermostat was set to 85 degrees
.
Also, sean's underwear wasfound on the floor in his
parents' bedroom.
Jared and Ramona believe thatwhoever killed Sean likely
sexually assaulted him as well,and they are firm on the belief
(28:44):
that Sean was murdered.
According to the medicalexaminer, though, there were no
signs of sexual assault found onSean's body.
This is the same person, though, who has ruled this death a
suicide, so I'm not sure justhow much stock I would put into
what he says at this pointmyself.
There's also the strange factthat Sean was found wearing
(29:05):
Jared's clothes.
Why would he change into hisstepdad's clothes to commit
suicide?
That whole aspect of it iscompletely out of left field.
It just added a twist to thiscase that made everything else
far more strange, just when youthink it couldn't get any
stranger.
I don't even know that I couldcome up with a good theory as to
(29:26):
why he would be wearing hisstepdad's clothes.
It was reported that he had hisown clothes, the ones that he
wore to school that day on whenhe took the selfie and turned in
his online schoolwork thatafternoon.
There is such a short windowbetween the time that he got off
the school bus at 3.02 pm, at3.09, he takes the selfie and
(29:47):
turns in his homework online.
By 3.27, ramona speaks withSean on the phone, by 3.30, his
alarm goes off to take out thetrash and by 4.45, he is found
dead in his backyard.
We are talking about a windowof less than two hours.
That's a lot.
That's a lot to take place intwo hours.
(30:09):
So the bowl of peaches that hehad made for himself prior to
taking out the trash was foundstill sitting on the kitchen
counter untouched was foundstill sitting on the kitchen
counter untouched.
The family believes it's as ifsomeone snatched him up while he
was in the middle of taking outthe trash.
Everything was just leftunfinished.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Is there any report on the two-year-old brother?
I know you had said earlierthat he was found hiding in a
pile of clothes, but I'mwondering, through all of this,
what his reaction has been.
Now he's only two, but ifsomething like that happened and
he was a witness to it, hecould have different reactions.
(30:52):
To even like in this case,trash bags, I mean.
Something would trigger thatemotional response.
So any report on how he's doingthrough this?
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Well, ramona claims that the two-year-old told her
that a friend was chasing Seanaround the home and punching him
and that the friend eventouched his arm too.
Ramona says that when she foundthe two-year-old he was
sweating as if he'd been cryinghysterically, and she believes
that he may have seen someonekill his brother.
(31:23):
So he was hiding under theclothes and there were reports
that he looked exhausted.
He looked like just kind oflimp, like a rag doll that had
been really through somethingtraumatic and I don't know.
I mean, you've got atwo-year-old.
I don't think the police aretaking anything that the
(31:43):
two-year-old says seriously, butI think they should.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Well, and that was in 2022.
So you know I also work withkids, but typically not that
young.
But what you can do as well isokay, things that trigger him,
that even at two you can kind ofget a sense.
The mom is saying he's sayingsomething about chasing, which
(32:10):
was probably some kind of brokenup English, but I wonder you
know we're talking three yearslater if it was that traumatic.
You know we're talking threeyears later if it was that
traumatic, believe it or notthat kids will hold on to that
in some way.
So hopefully they have talkedto a psychologist and are not
just taking what he may haveseen it to, but seeing the
(32:31):
reaction.
Even now he'd only be five, butyou would still see some of
that.
That would give some kind ofindication of the trauma that he
went through and could perhapsgive some answers.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
That's definitely a possibility and maybe they are
working with him more so theparents to try and see what
might trigger him, because itsounds like the police have just
kind of it's a closed case andwe're not looking into any
further type thing.
But many people have commentedon social media that they
(33:03):
believe police staged the crimescene.
They state that in picturesthere is a black wicker chair
near the swing set, and it hasbeen reported, though, that the
chair used to be on the deck butwas moved near the swing set.
Now, obviously, if Sean didkill himself, he would need that
chair to be on the deck but wasmoved near the swing set.
(33:23):
Now, obviously, if Sean didkill himself, he would need that
chair to stand on.
Police have stated that thechair was moved from under the
swing set so that paramedicscould perform life-saving
measures on Sean, and this makessense, however, I mean it makes
sense, but however, I do notbelieve this was a suicide.
The family also states that whenthey returned home later that
day, they noticed a rather largehandprint on the inside of one
(33:48):
of the glass doors inside theirhome.
It was a handprint that was toobig to be any one of theirs and
it left a film on the inside ofthe door.
Investigators were able to liftprints from it and run it
through the database, butunfortunately they were unable
to locate a match.
The family, however, does notbelieve that the police even
(34:09):
attempted to send the handprintoff for testing.
Investigators also collectedSean's underwear that was found
on the floor, but the familydoesn't believe any tests were
done on that either.
So what happened to SeanDoherty?
What did his two-year-oldbrother actually witness on that
fateful day?
Why would a 12-year-old boy whowas so excited about upcoming
(34:35):
plans for his future suddenlydecide to take his own life?
Why were the police and medicalexaminers so quick to rule
Sean's death a suicide, despitesome of the evidence suggesting
otherwise?
And why has so much about thiscase been wiped from the
internet?
There are more questions thananswers as to what happened to
(34:58):
this young man.
One thing that remains the sameis that Sean's family has never
, nor will they ever, stoptrying to uncover what really
happened to Sean.
Thank you for listening toanother episode of Gone in a
Blink.
If you'd like to check out theFacebook page that the family
(35:22):
set up in honor of Sean, thepage is called what Happened to
Sean.
There they keep his memoryalive and actively continue to
fight for answers into his death.
Really, like I've mentioned,most of what is still on the
Internet regarding Sean's caseare Reddit posts, youtube videos
and other podcasters who aresearching for answers as well.
(35:45):
It's important that we all keepposting about Sean and work
together to keep his story alive.
We thank you again forlistening.
If you like our show, pleaseconsider giving us a five-star
review on Apple Podcasts or onSpotify, and we love when you
(36:06):
follow us on any of our socialmedia sites and I will have
those links listed in our shownotes.
And if you have an idea for ashow you'd like us to cover, or
if you have a loved one who ismissing, drop us an email at
goneinablinkpod at gmailcom.
And, last but not least, pleaseremember be safe, be smart and
(36:32):
try not to blink you.
A young 12-year-old boy with everything to live for
is home after school watchinghis two-year-old brother.
Is home after school watchinghis two-year-old brother.
He's a very responsible youngman who does exceptionally well
in school, as described by histeachers.
He loves all the things that atypical 12-year-old boy is into,
(00:39):
including video games, starWars and Disney.
He is loved by his parents, histhree siblings and everyone who
knew him.
He is a happy child, which iswhy his parents have been
fighting so hard to find out whytheir beloved son was found
(01:04):
dead in their backyard on theafternoon of April 14, 2022.
The police claim it was asuicide, but based on evidence
surrounding his case, thingsjust don't seem to add up.
Case.
Things just don't seem to addup.
This is the case of SeanDoherty and this is Gone in a
(01:34):
Blink.
Hey, true crime fans, I'm yourhost, heather, and I'm Danielle.
Welcome to episode 37 of Gonein a Blink.
I hope everyone had a wonderfulEaster.
It was a very rainy one at ourhouse, so the kiddos did an
(01:59):
Easter egg hunt indoors, whichwas something different than
what we normally do, but theystill got to do one nonetheless,
and we colored Easter eggs andjust kind of laid low this
Easter.
Danielle, what'd you do?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
It was a lot of laying low my poor little doggie
.
He got injured, so he's in oneof those cone things and so
can't really move around a wholelot and with it raining out it
just kind of made for a sleepySunday.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Yeah, that's pretty much the way I could describe it
too.
It was just.
It was really rainy and nastyout, but it was a good day
nonetheless.
So today's case is one out ofYorktown, virginia.
Today we are talking about thestrange and mysterious death of
12-year-old Sean Doherty.
(02:49):
So if you're ready, let's jumpright in.
Sean Patrick Doherty was a lotlike most 12-year-old boys.
He loved Star Wars, playingvideo games, particularly
Fortnite, and all things Disney.
He also had a passion forreading.
In fact, it was reported thatat one point he even spent $107
(03:13):
of his own money on new books ata book fair.
Sean was described by friendsand family as having a strong
love for life.
He was a sixth grader at TabbMiddle School, where he was a
straight A student.
He even had dreams of one daybecoming president.
Sean lived on Sandalwood Lane inan upscale neighborhood in the
(03:36):
town of Yorktown, virginia.
There he resided with hismother, ramona, and his
stepfather, jared, both who werelieutenant colonels in the US
Air Force.
Also living in the home wereRamona's 79-year-old mother,
vijja, sean's 16-year-old sister, maria, and his two
half-brothers, who were justfive and two.
(03:57):
Yorktown is a small community.
However, it is part of YorkCounty, which is actually much
bigger, with a population ofsomewhere around 66,000.
So April 14th 2022 started outpretty much like any other day,
really.
Sean got off the school busaround 3.02 PM just as his
(04:20):
mother, ramona, was leaving totake her mother to a doctor's
appointment.
Jared was with herfive-year-old son in
Williamsburg, which wasapproximately 40 minutes away.
Ramona told Sean that sheneeded him to watch his
two-year-old brother until hissister, maria, got home.
Maria had an after-schooltennis match and was expected to
(04:42):
be home around 4.30 pm.
Sean had no problems with thatand in fact, he loved watching
his little brother, so Sean waslooking forward to playing
Fortnite with his friends andjust hanging out with his little
brother.
However, he was always reallygood about completing his
schoolwork first.
(05:02):
So at 3.09 pm, sean turned inhis online homework assignments
and along with his homeworkassignment, he also attached a
selfie.
In that picture, sean was stillwearing the shirt and shorts
that he'd worn to school thatday.
This will become very importantlater in the story.
So around 3.27 pm, ramonacalled Sean to suggest that he
(05:26):
bring his little brotherupstairs with him while he
played video games, and that hecould let his little brother
just watch a tablet and justkind of hang out with him.
At 3.30 Sean's alarm went offthat he had set to remind
himself to take out the garbage.
He went downstairs and made asnack that consisted of jarred
(05:46):
peaches, and then he proceededto gather the trash from around
the house.
It was around this time that thefamily claims to have sort of
lost track of Sean's movements.
So around 4.45 pm Sean's sister, maria, arrived home and was in
a bit of a hurry.
She had plans to get ready andquickly change clothes because
(06:09):
her boyfriend, aj, and hismother were planning on swinging
by the house to pick her up andtake her with them to AJ's
lacrosse game later that evening.
When Maria got home, shediscovered that the front door
was locked.
She rang the doorbell andknocked profusely.
However, no one ever came tothe door.
(06:29):
She then called and texted Seannumerous times and still there
was no answer.
She then decided to call hermother, and her mother really
wasn't too concerned at thatpoint because she figured that
Sean was upstairs playing videogames and couldn't hear his
phone or the door anyway.
By this time.
Maria was getting irritated, soshe decided to go around to the
(06:52):
back of the house and check theback door, much to her surprise
.
When Maria rounded the cornerinto the backyard, she saw a
figure their back was facingMaria, and they had a string
hanging from their neck that wastied to the swing set.
There was a black bag overtheir head, and their arms were
(07:14):
tied to their waist with whatappeared to be a belt.
They were dressed in men'sbaggy clothing, and Maria's
whole body shivered in completeterror.
She had no idea who the personwas, and so she called out to
them and was just like hey, butthere was no answer.
(07:34):
She began to move a littlecloser to the figure, and that's
when her heart sank.
It was Sean.
He was barefoot, with his kneesbent, his toes were dragging
across the ground, his handswere discolored from the lack of
circulation and in a completestate of shock and panic
(07:55):
combined.
Maria ran to her brother andtried to lift him up so that she
could relieve the pressure onhis neck and somehow get the
noose off.
She called 911 at 4.45 pm.
She performed CPR on Sean untilmedics arrived shortly after,
and meanwhile Ramona and Vijaywere on their way home when they
(08:16):
saw ambulances and fire trucksspeeding past them in a hurry,
and Ramona was just praying thatthey weren't heading to her
house, even though they weregoing in that direction.
So when Ramona and her motherarrived home, her worst fears
became a reality.
When she saw her home swarmingwith EMTs, she jumped out of the
(08:38):
car and raced into the backyardwhere she saw her son lying on
the ground surrounded by EMTs.
They were trying to revive Seanand at one point one of the
medics yelled out I got aheartbeat.
Unfortunately, this wasshort-lived and Sean was
pronounced dead at RiversideRegional Medical Center in
Newport News.
(08:59):
When Ramona went inside thehouse, she found her
two-year-old son hiding under apile of laundry.
Inside the house, she found hertwo-year-old son hiding under a
pile of laundry.
Sean's crux were tossed to theside near the trash that had not
yet been taken out.
This was all so confusing, forthe family.
Police investigated the sceneboth inside and outside of the
house, and later the autopsyreport from the state office of
(09:23):
the chief medical examiner wouldstate the following Sean was
found partially suspended by ashoelace that was tied to the
swing set.
There was a nylon bag over hishead and a belt strapped around
his abdomen, tying both of hisarms to his side.
He was dressed in his father'sclothes and was barefoot.
(09:45):
His glasses were found on theground near where his body was
discovered.
Inside his parents' bedroom,sean's underwear was found on
the floor and the dresserdrawers were all open.
The medical examiner, much tothe family's surprise, ruled
Sean's death a suicide.
Now, this was a major shock tothe family, obviously, and yet
(10:10):
nothing about these findingsmade any sense.
It was reported that somereporters at Local News 3 got
hold of a document that had beenwritten by an ER doctor
claiming that Sean had a historyof suicidal ideation.
However, the medical examinermade a note in his report that
Sean had no history ofdepression or suicidal ideation.
However, the medical examinermade a note in his report that
(10:31):
Sean had no history ofdepression or suicidal ideation.
And still the medical examinerruled Sean's death a suicide.
Police raised the possibilityof bullying into their
investigation.
However, ramona and Jared werepretty firm in their beliefs
that there were no indicatorsthat Sean was being bullied.
(10:52):
Sean's family says that Sean washappy in the weeks before his
death and had a lot to beexcited about.
They had just returned from aDisney cruise and were already
planning their next vacation,and just two days before his
death, ramona had taken her sonto renew his passport and Sean
was so extremely excited aboutthis.
Aside from their next upcomingtrip, ramona had just accepted a
(11:17):
new position working at thePentagon and the family was
planning for an upcoming move,and Sean was absolutely ecstatic
about that as well.
Sean was over the moon withexcitement about moving, but
also the fact that his mom wouldbe working at the Pentagon, and
he couldn't wait to tell all ofhis friends.
He dreamed of one day gettingto take a tour of his mom's
(11:38):
future job and even get some ofthe iconic chocolate candies
with the building stamped onthem.
So on Ramona's first day at hernew job, she went into the
chocolate shop and bought one.
It now sits next to Sean'spicture.
According to an article in YahooNews, the night before Sean
passed, ramona bought somecookies and a few of them were
(12:00):
Sean's favorite, which wascarrot cake.
He was so excited about thosecookies he couldn't stop talking
about them and how deliciousthey were.
Jared recalls quote.
Every night, no matter what, hewould come up and follow Ramona
around.
He would just follow her aroundall over the place and talk to
her about whatever they talkedabout, and that was the same
(12:23):
thing the Wednesday night beforehe passed.
Unquote.
Jared would go on to say thatevery time the catch-up sessions
, as he liked to call them, gotfinished, he'd turn and look at
his parents and say, well, goodnight, guys, I love you.
And then he'd bounce back downthe hall.
So how is it that police areruling Sean's death a suicide?
(12:47):
I'm sure that when somethinglike this happens, the family
goes into a state of shock aswell as a sense of denial.
No one wants to believe thattheir loved ones are capable of
this or that it's ended likethis, and I can definitely
understand where they're comingfrom.
However, I feel like nothing inthis particular case is really
adding up.
So I don't believe that thiswas a suicide, and I will break
(13:11):
it all down and kind of recapwhat we have as far as the
evidence goes here in a littlewhile.
But I just feel like there aremore questions than answers with
this.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Well, and first of all, I feel so, so bad for the
family and any friends that Seanleft behind.
It's just when anything likethis happens, it's just tragic,
and from what you're sayingright now, it doesn't seem like
a suicide, other than, I guess,what they're finding in the
(13:41):
house as far as him wearing hisdad's clothes and just kind of
how they found him.
I guess something that kind ofcomes to mind to me is that in
these cases so I have heard,like with the video game
community, I have heard somethings that I mean probably
should do some research on aboutFortnite For a while that
(14:03):
that's been pretty controversial, especially for younger kids,
because of just kind of thecontent that goes over.
That it has been connected tokids hurting themselves and then
to bullying.
Then also it's an onlinecommunity where people that you
don't know you have theopportunity to play with them
(14:25):
and they can cause trouble aswell.
It's easy to bully somebodywhen you can't see them face to
face, or to act like a bullybecause you're not connecting
like a face or even knowing thisperson, and so who knows what
could have been going on.
That's what I'm wondering ifthat's where the police come in,
(14:47):
of thanking this because ofjust kind of they've seen this
over and over again At thispoint, from what you're telling
me, that doesn't necessarilymean that this case is a suicide
.
I'm hoping we have otherinformation that we can tie this
all together.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Well, I definitely know what you mean about certain
games and being able tointeract with other people and
there can be bullying and therecan be online predators that are
searching for kids.
Roblox is another game that hashad I guess I could call them
(15:25):
incidences in the past withthings like that and online
luring of children, and so withany game like this where you're
interacting with strangers,basically you run the risk of
this and this isn't out of therealm of possibilities, that
something like that happened.
I'm hoping that police lookedat that route.
(15:46):
I don't know, I haven't foundanything about that, but that is
something that could be apossibility.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Something that comes across my office too many times
and it really just irks me isthat there's like kind of a
slain nowadays for, like you seeit about fifth grade on into
high school that they use like asaying, like a gesture of like
oh you should go kill yourself.
(16:14):
And to an adult or even atherapist, I mean that is like
what, are you serious?
But to kids that age they'renot actually meaning that.
That means that like to themthat oh, that really sucks.
And anytime, of course, I comeacross a student that's either
(16:34):
had that used upon them or usingit themselves, I probably turn
into mama mode or whatever,because I'm like you do not say
that, because you don't knowwhat's on the other side of that
.
Someone could take that as youknow what I should and do things
that maybe, if we wouldn't havesuggested it, not taking it to
(16:56):
that level that's where kind ofthe bullying comes in too is
that people use it as like abullying tactic, but not really
understanding how far that maycome to somebody that's
suffering with any kind ofanxiety or depression.
I mean, you think about if yousuggest something over and over
again to someone I don't care if, even if you're an adult, it's
(17:19):
hard to like to differentiate of.
You start thinking of that.
You know, maybe I should, maybethat this would be the right
reaction, and so this kind ofreminds me of that as well.
If there was some kind ofbullying, it's just something,
even in 2022, I see all the timeof those gestures that to kids
(17:39):
don't mean that and definitelythe intent is not for them to
actually do it, but a personthat has that mental health
issue at the time uses it asthat.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Yeah, I've actually heard of kids that use that
terminology or that saying, andwhile some might mean it, I
think yeah, I think a lot oftimes too kids are just saying
it without really havinganything behind it, but the
recipient of that might bedealing with other things and
(18:10):
take that totally to heart, andit infuriates me when I hear
kids say that.
So I definitely know whatyou're coming from, but after
Sean was found in the backyardof his home, neighbors began to
flock to the family's residence.
After questioning multipleneighbors, police were
discouraged and yet baffled atthe fact that no one saw a thing
(18:34):
.
One neighbor even had asecurity camera that was
pointing directly into Sean'sbackyard.
However, are you ready for this?
That particular security camerahadn't worked in years.
How many times do we hear that?
I mean, can you imagine theyhave a camera pointing directly
(18:57):
into the backyard that couldhave solved this entire thing,
and yet it wasn't working.
I become speechless at thispoint, I swear.
So it was also discovered thatthere had been a landscaper
working in the yard next doorright around the time that Sean
died.
However, he claims that henever saw a thing.
(19:19):
How is that even possible?
I'm not sure how tall the fencewas in the backyard, so that
could be why the landscapernever saw anything.
But it's just so strange to methat this happened in the middle
of the day in broad daylightand no one sees a thing.
The family very stronglybelieves that Sean was murdered
(19:41):
and they have started a petitionin the hopes of having the case
turned over to the FBI, and Ireally hope this happens,
because the evidence surroundingthis case is just incredibly
strange and I want to just sortof go through what I've found,
and I guess I want to start offby saying that I was completely
shocked at how very little thereis online regarding Sean's case
(20:06):
, especially considering howvery well known this case
actually is.
This was definitely a red flagfor me because it was as if
someone had erased mosteverything about Sean's case
from the internet.
It was really weird and I hadlooked up this case many, many
years ago and I feel like therewas actually more back then.
(20:30):
Maybe heck, maybe it wasbecause it was a newer case.
It had just happened, but itstill wasn't that long ago.
I've looked up cases from 30,40 years ago that still there's
quite a bit about it, but thiscase is too new still for there
not to be really anything.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Right, it was just about, maybe about three years
ago, 2022, right, april of 2022.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Yeah, so that's pretty new 2022.
We're in 2025.
So there should be a lot allover the internet and there's
just not.
As I mentioned earlier, sean'sarms were tied to his side by a
belt.
It was reported that the beltwas so tight that even EMTs had
trouble removing it from histiny little arms.
(21:21):
How would Sean have tied his ownarms to his side, much less tie
the knot so tight that severalgrown adults would have trouble
untying it?
Then, when Sean was found, hewas barefoot and it was reported
that his toes were touching theground.
And because of this, if Seanhad really committed suicide at
any point, he could have simplystood up to relieve the pressure
(21:44):
on his neck from the noose, andyou would think, even if
suicide was his intent, that itwould be one's natural instinct
to stand up once their bodystarted to become deprived of
oxygen and that's where thepolice are drawing the
conclusion of suicide because,as you had said, his toes were
touching, he could have juststood up, and the fact that he
(22:07):
didn't you know you make aninteresting point that how would
he have tied his own belt?
Speaker 2 (22:11):
and for the EMTs to have had such a struggle?
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Well, and I feel like your natural instinct is going
to be even if you are trying tocommit suicide, if you are able
to touch at all, wouldn't thatbe your natural instinct when
your body starts going throughthe process of struggling for
air?
To me and maybe I'm wrong,maybe I'm wrong about this, but
(22:38):
to me that would be like tryingto suffocate yourself and always
have the ability to let go.
He could have stood up at anypoint.
That doesn't make sense to me.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Right that he could have, or like the suffocation,
but the thing is is that peopledie of suicide in those matters
all the time, so it's almostlike they're fighting that
natural reaction.
What I'm wondering in this case, could he have already been
dead and they were trying tomake it look like a suicide?
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Well, that's kind of the direction that I'm going
with my own personal opinion andthat seems to be like kind of
the consensus for social mediacommenters to feel the same way.
I mean everything I'm seeing.
I read things on Reddit justkind of seeing what everybody
else thinks, and that seems tobe the theory.
(23:30):
Also, sean's family reportedthat Sean hated to be barefoot,
yet his Crocs were found tossednear the garbage can in the
kitchen.
It was also reported that thebottom of Sean's feet were clean
, yet the family reported thatthe ground in the backyard was
wet and muddy that day.
Major Ron Montgomery of theYork County Sheriff's Department
(23:54):
, however, refutes this claim.
Instead, he claims that imagesfrom that day show that the
backyard was dry.
What's strange about MajorMontgomery's claim is that there
are no images found anywhere onthe internet that can back up
his claim.
They somehow have all beenwiped away.
As I mentioned, because Isearched.
(24:14):
I searched hard.
Now I feel like way back when Imight have, when I was
researching this case or justkind of reading about this case,
I feel like I did see someimages of the backyard.
I can't remember what they wereexactly and I definitely don't
remember seeing images aboutwhether or not the backyard was
muddy versus dry, but I can'tremember what they were exactly
and I definitely don't rememberseeing images about whether or
not the backyard was muddyversus dry.
But I don't know why the momwould say that if it wasn't true
(24:39):
.
So that doesn't even make sense.
But the fact that Sean's feetwere completely dry even if it
was kind of dry that day, theywouldn't be clean.
If you're walking across thebackyard you're going to have
something on them, I would thinkso.
Next we have the fact thatSean's glasses were found broken
on the ground not far fromwhere the swing set was, and
(25:02):
family members have stated thatSean couldn't see a thing
without his glasses.
So how did Sean's glasses endup broken?
And if Sean couldn't seeanything, how did he tie himself
up?
It was also reported thatSean's head was covered with a
nylon bag.
So not only was he unable tosee without his glasses, but he
(25:24):
also supposedly tied himself upwith a bag over his head because
, you know, he couldn't tie hisarms to his side and then place
the bag over his head.
It had been reported that thebag used was a motorcycle helmet
bag that Jared had in thegarage.
The shoelace type string wasthe drawstring from that bag.
(25:45):
Why go to all this trouble?
And why put a bag on your head?
And how are you doing all ofthis?
Practically blind, because youdon't have your glasses on and
you can't see without yourglasses, but it wouldn't matter
anyway, because you have a bagover your head.
How is this 12-year-old able tomanage all of this?
(26:05):
And if you're going to killyourself, why go through all the
trouble?
Speaker 2 (26:10):
To be fair, that argument can be for anybody that
commits suicide is you know, Iguess, of our thinking of why to
go to all that trouble.
But you're bringing up somereally good points that for him
to have committed suicide, itseems like he would have had to
have planned this out for a longtime and then to be able to
(26:34):
have, he couldn't see to havethe bag in a position to go over
his head at the right time and,yeah, it doesn't seem like it
would work.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
It just seems like a lot of work when the outcome is
going to be the same.
I don't know, but Sean's familyreports that he had his alarm
set at 3.30, which I mentionedreminding himself to take out
the trash.
When Ramona got home shenoticed that the kitchen bags
had been removed and new bagsput in their place.
(27:08):
However, sean hadn't taken thetrash out.
Ramona claims they found torntrash bags with blue strings in
the kitchen, but that shedoesn't know where they came
from because she only buys theones with the red handles from
Costco.
And I'm not too sure where thisfits into the equation.
Although it is strange, I'm notsure that if someone came into
(27:30):
the house and killed Sean, thatthey would have brought their
own trash bags and then leftthem.
That seems a little out ofreach and I don't know that
she's really insinuating that,but she found him out of place
nonetheless.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
She's pointing it out because I mean she's looking
for every little thing to provethat her son did not kill
himself, and he may likely didnot.
That's just one thing.
I mean, she usually has red tietrash bags, not blue, which is
odd that where would these havecome from?
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Oh, definitely.
It's definitely something thatshe's pointing out, because
she's probably analyzing everybit of that day, and I would be
too, so I definitely don't blameher in the least bit, but it
seems a bit weird, about thetrash bags, for sure.
(28:22):
Next, there were reports thatwhen Jared and Ramona went
upstairs, they found that thethermostat was set to 85 degrees
.
Also, sean's underwear wasfound on the floor in his
parents' bedroom.
Jared and Ramona believe thatwhoever killed Sean likely
sexually assaulted him as well,and they are firm on the belief
(28:44):
that Sean was murdered.
According to the medicalexaminer, though, there were no
signs of sexual assault found onSean's body.
This is the same person, though, who has ruled this death a
suicide, so I'm not sure justhow much stock I would put into
what he says at this pointmyself.
There's also the strange factthat Sean was found wearing
(29:05):
Jared's clothes.
Why would he change into hisstepdad's clothes to commit
suicide?
That whole aspect of it iscompletely out of left field.
It just added a twist to thiscase that made everything else
far more strange, just when youthink it couldn't get any
stranger.
I don't even know that I couldcome up with a good theory as to
(29:26):
why he would be wearing hisstepdad's clothes.
It was reported that he had hisown clothes, the ones that he
wore to school that day on whenhe took the selfie and turned in
his online schoolwork thatafternoon.
There is such a short windowbetween the time that he got off
the school bus at 3.02 pm, at3.09, he takes the selfie and
(29:47):
turns in his homework online.
By 3.27, ramona speaks withSean on the phone, by 3.30, his
alarm goes off to take out thetrash and by 4.45, he is found
dead in his backyard.
We are talking about a windowof less than two hours.
That's a lot.
That's a lot to take place intwo hours.
(30:09):
So the bowl of peaches that hehad made for himself prior to
taking out the trash was foundstill sitting on the kitchen
counter untouched was foundstill sitting on the kitchen
counter untouched.
The family believes it's as ifsomeone snatched him up while he
was in the middle of taking outthe trash.
Everything was just leftunfinished.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Is there any report on the two-year-old brother?
I know you had said earlierthat he was found hiding in a
pile of clothes, but I'mwondering, through all of this,
what his reaction has been.
Now he's only two, but ifsomething like that happened and
he was a witness to it, hecould have different reactions.
(30:52):
To even like in this case,trash bags, I mean.
Something would trigger thatemotional response.
So any report on how he's doingthrough this?
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Well, ramona claims that the two-year-old told her
that a friend was chasing Seanaround the home and punching him
and that the friend eventouched his arm too.
Ramona says that when she foundthe two-year-old he was
sweating as if he'd been cryinghysterically, and she believes
that he may have seen someonekill his brother.
(31:23):
So he was hiding under theclothes and there were reports
that he looked exhausted.
He looked like just kind oflimp, like a rag doll that had
been really through somethingtraumatic and I don't know.
I mean, you've got atwo-year-old.
I don't think the police aretaking anything that the
(31:43):
two-year-old says seriously, butI think they should.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Well, and that was in 2022.
So you know I also work withkids, but typically not that
young.
But what you can do as well isokay, things that trigger him,
that even at two you can kind ofget a sense.
The mom is saying he's sayingsomething about chasing, which
(32:10):
was probably some kind of brokenup English, but I wonder you
know we're talking three yearslater if it was that traumatic.
You know we're talking threeyears later if it was that
traumatic, believe it or notthat kids will hold on to that
in some way.
So hopefully they have talkedto a psychologist and are not
just taking what he may haveseen it to, but seeing the
(32:31):
reaction.
Even now he'd only be five, butyou would still see some of
that.
That would give some kind ofindication of the trauma that he
went through and could perhapsgive some answers.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
That's definitely a possibility and maybe they are
working with him more so theparents to try and see what
might trigger him, because itsounds like the police have just
kind of it's a closed case andwe're not looking into any
further type thing.
But many people have commentedon social media that they
(33:03):
believe police staged the crimescene.
They state that in picturesthere is a black wicker chair
near the swing set, and it hasbeen reported, though, that the
chair used to be on the deck butwas moved near the swing set.
Now, obviously, if Sean didkill himself, he would need that
chair to be on the deck but wasmoved near the swing set.
(33:23):
Now, obviously, if Sean didkill himself, he would need that
chair to stand on.
Police have stated that thechair was moved from under the
swing set so that paramedicscould perform life-saving
measures on Sean, and this makessense, however, I mean it makes
sense, but however, I do notbelieve this was a suicide.
The family also states that whenthey returned home later that
day, they noticed a rather largehandprint on the inside of one
(33:48):
of the glass doors inside theirhome.
It was a handprint that was toobig to be any one of theirs and
it left a film on the inside ofthe door.
Investigators were able to liftprints from it and run it
through the database, butunfortunately they were unable
to locate a match.
The family, however, does notbelieve that the police even
(34:09):
attempted to send the handprintoff for testing.
Investigators also collectedSean's underwear that was found
on the floor, but the familydoesn't believe any tests were
done on that either.
So what happened to SeanDoherty?
What did his two-year-oldbrother actually witness on that
fateful day?
Why would a 12-year-old boy whowas so excited about upcoming
(34:35):
plans for his future suddenlydecide to take his own life?
Why were the police and medicalexaminers so quick to rule
Sean's death a suicide, despitesome of the evidence suggesting
otherwise?
And why has so much about thiscase been wiped from the
internet?
There are more questions thananswers as to what happened to
(34:58):
this young man.
One thing that remains the sameis that Sean's family has never
, nor will they ever, stoptrying to uncover what really
happened to Sean.
Thank you for listening toanother episode of Gone in a
Blink.
If you'd like to check out theFacebook page that the family
(35:22):
set up in honor of Sean, thepage is called what Happened to
Sean.
There they keep his memoryalive and actively continue to
fight for answers into his death.
Really, like I've mentioned,most of what is still on the
Internet regarding Sean's caseare Reddit posts, youtube videos
and other podcasters who aresearching for answers as well.
(35:45):
It's important that we all keepposting about Sean and work
together to keep his story alive.
We thank you again forlistening.
If you like our show, pleaseconsider giving us a five-star
review on Apple Podcasts or onSpotify, and we love when you
(36:06):
follow us on any of our socialmedia sites and I will have
those links listed in our shownotes.
And if you have an idea for ashow you'd like us to cover, or
if you have a loved one who ismissing, drop us an email at
goneinablinkpod at gmailcom.
And, last but not least, pleaseremember be safe, be smart and
(36:32):
try not to blink you.
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