Police were back out grid searching the marsh around Mine Brook in Franklin, Massachusetts, and Bellingham Friday, trying to find something that may have been missed in some of the murkiest areas of the terrain where they believe 20-year-old Duke University student Michael Doherty went missing.
Adding to the roughly 40 members of law enforcement combing these woods and waterways on day six of their coordinated search effort, were dozens of concerned residents and friends of the Doherty family.
Family friend Ed Blasie said, “I know the Dohertys from hockey, my sons play hockey with Kevin, the younger brother.”
Josh Nelson knows Doherty’s brother and said, “My mom’s friends with their mom and they’re a great family it’s just sad.”
They got together and walked the same trail investigators believe Doherty tried to take home in the dark, pouring rain early Sunday morning.
Connor McLaughlin, who was searching the woods said, “You can’t even get 10 feet into the – 10 feet in without sinking into mud and stuff like that, it’s definitely tough.”
Also searching the woods, Molly Doherty added, “The conditions were horrendous, like I didn’t think they were that bad, like the swamp’s so much bigger than I thought.”
U.S. & World
These efforts, not sanctioned by law enforcement, but all part of this caring community trying to add more eyes and ears to this desperate search.
Tim Nelson, who knows the Doherty family said, “It just seems like more could be done, I mean there’s a limited number of law enforcement people and they have a lot of area to search, so we thought we could help.”
Officials have said they plan to continue the search through the weekend. They have also been attempting to ping Doherty's cell phone every day since his disappearance, but there's been no response.
