Sykesville man found dead in New York

BY: Chris Amos
DATE: June 9th 2004

A college student from Sykesville who had been missing for more than six weeks was found dead last week in New York City.

The body of Patrick Michael Welsh, 22, was spotted by a passer-by June 2 floating near a Hudson River boat dock, according to New York City Police Department spokesman Christopher Filippazzo.

The identification of Welsh's body was made Wednesday after his dental records were forwarded to the New York City medical examiner's office.

Medical examiners were unable to determine the time or cause of Welsh's death as of Wednesday afternoon.

Welsh was last seen boarding a train at the Harrisburg, Pa., train station for a weekend visit to New York April 15.

He had been scheduled to return from New York the following week in order to prepare for final examinations at York College in York, Pa.

Maryland State Police said Welsh placed at least one call from his cell phone while in Manhattan April 15.

But on April 18, Welsh's cellular phone was used by a homeless man, John Dennis Koppinger, to call relatives in New York.

Koppinger told police he found the phone under a bridge in an area of the Bronx frequented by homeless people, according to New York City Police Department spokeswoman Jennara Everleth.

That location - the confluence of two major expressways - is about eight miles from where Welsh's body was found.

Everleth said it would be difficult to determine where Welsh's body entered the water because of complicated river currents.

She said it is common for bodies to be found in New York waterways - she estimated six or seven have been found within the past two weeks.

Everleth said Koppinger is not a suspect in Welsh's disappearance or death.

Maryland State Police investigators had originally pursued leads that Welsh was traveling with a band, Ratdog.

Ratdog performed in New York on April 16.

Maryland State Police Cpl. Jeffrey Tanzola posted a message on an Internet forum operated by fans of Ratdog in May that asked for information on Welsh's whereabouts.

Maryland State Police Sgt. Thornnie Rouse said police had received reports that Welsh had been sighted as far away as Indiana and Illinois since he was reported missing.

Everleth said New York police were not looking in that direction.

"That is not part of our investigation at this time," she said.

Welsh was scheduled to graduate in December with a degree in professional writing.