Family Of Teen Believe Suspicious Details Around Her Drowning Death Suggest She Was Murdered
Justice for Taleah Lowe.
Facebook As #JusticeForTaleah spreads across social media, many are seeking answers about the suspicious death of a Michigan teenager.
The death of 18-year-old, Taleah Lowe, who died tragically in Muskegon, Michigan, is an ongoing investigation that has been happening for nearly two months as family members and social media users question what is taking so long and why the news isn’t being spread.
The Grand Valley State University student drowned near Pere Marquette beach on October 14th, and while police say that there was no foul play, not everyone is convinced.
What happened to Taleah Lowe?
Police say Lowe died by drowning while having a beach day with a new group of friends.
Muskegon Police Department Captain Shawn Bride released a statement about what happened to Lowe that fateful night and included the mention of the investigation and the autopsy.
“One of Lowe’s classmates with her at the beach called 911 at 10:46 pm on Oct. 14 reporting a water emergency with a missing swimmer, and Muskegon Fire Department Divers recovered Ms. Lowe’s body at approximately 1:26 am on Oct. 15 in the water,” Bride said.
He said that strong rip currents were reported in the Pere Marquette area where Lowe was last located, an area bordered just to the north by an over 2,600-foot long channel break wall.
“This is an open and ongoing investigation, with post mortem results pending,” Bride said. “I’ll have more details after the pathologist gives us a final report.”
That was during the October 15th press release, but on October 19th, Grand Valley Police Department shared on social media that the Muskegon Police Department report said there was nothing to indicate foul play, claiming she drowned as a result of the strong waves — family members and social media users are not convinced.
Taleah Lowe's family don't think she would have gone into the water.
Shirley McCurty recalled one of the last conversations she had with her granddaughter about the dangers of the strong waves and the water.
“I said, ‘Don’t go out there on the lake ‘cause you’ll mess around and drown and won’t nobody find you',” Shirley recalled during a Zoom interview with Fox 17 on Tuesday afternoon. “And she said, ‘Grandma, you’re crazy’ and started laughing.”
However, McCurty knew that Lowe took her seriously because she was afraid of water — something that stayed with her as a result of a disability she’s had since birth.
“She would never go near the water. She loved the beach. You would never see her in the water but you would see her on the beach,” said Taleah’s aunt Angela Lane. “She would never get in the water and she made it known to people that was close to her that she could not swim. She could not — she would not — get in the water. She had a fear of it.”
This is why when her body was found near the Pere Marquette beach, it raised some eyebrows among her family members who shared her story to thousands of social media users.
“We want people to know that Taleah was a very bright, intelligent, smart, fun, loving, outgoing girl,” Lane said. “We also want people to know that Taleah could not swim. She had a disability, partial paralysis in her left arm from birth.”
Taleah Lowe's friends set up a GoFundMe without her family's consent.
Another reason that the family is suspicious of Lowe’s death is due to the GoFundMe that was created the night she disappeared — hours after she was gone.
“They started a GoFundMe for my sister without any of the family’s consent, not even two hours after Taleah was found,” Breyana McCurty, Lowe’s older sister, said.
“Taleah knew about the tide. I just don’t think it’s right. I just don’t think she would go that far out in the water by herself knowing about the tide that late at night.”
Rachel Paulsen and Chloe Ward were the creators of the GoFundMe and were also Lowe’s friends, but there’s plenty of speculation from family members and internet sleuths that they are the ones behind Lowe’s tragic death.
According to the speculation, Paulsen and Ward knew about Lowe’s disability and should have been keeping a closer eye on her.
It has since been reported that the money raised in the GoFundMe has been transferred to Lowe's family.
Taleah Lowe's family claim her body was covered in bruises.
In a Facebook post, Lowe's aunt alleged that a funeral director had said her niece "had bruises all over her body consistent with violent force."
A cousin of Lowe's claimed her friends packed up her things and asked around for the passcode to her phone before the police showed up and looked for her body.
The rumors and speculation are unsubstantiated, but the case remains an open investigation.
According to Fox 17, the money from the GoFundMe has been transferred to Lowe's sister, McCurty, after verifying that she was in fact the sister.
Her family started their own GoFundMe and raised nearly $6,500 before closing it.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.