Just a few hours before Noah Presgrove was found dead by the side of a lonely highway, he was having the time of his life with his best friends.
Noah, 19, was discovered naked with his teeth knocked out on the US-81 highway near Terral, Oklahoma, on September 4, 2023.
He suffered massive head and upper body injuries that led him to die from internal bleeding, but the cause still remains a mystery three years later.
No suspect has ever been arrested or even identified by tight-lipped police, who say they are still investigating but refuse to reveal any details.
Noah’s death has since become one of the country’s most intriguing unsolved mysteries, endlessly debated online by those who insist it was a tragic accident and others who believe he was murdered.
The teen’s family appear to be part of the latter’s camp, and sued six of his friends and three adults claiming he was beaten to death. All of them have denied liability.
Exactly what happened during Noah’s final hours alive is shrouded by a web of drunken haze and conflicting stories.
The Daily Mail has pieced together what is generally agreed to have happened before and immediately after his death, though many details are disputed among those who were there.
Noah Presgrove, 19, was wearing only his shoes when his body was discovered on a desolate stretch of US-81 in Terral, Oklahoma, on September 4, 2023
The September 2023 party was to celebrate the 22nd birthday of Avery Jo Combs, whose family are huge landowners in the area around Terral and beyond, and was said to be sleeping with Noah at the time.
Advertised to friends on Snapchat, it was held at her grandfather Johnnie Wilcoxson’s house – one of three on a small dirt road off the highway 1.2 miles north of town and surrounded by fields.
The group lived in the various small towns dotted along US-81, including Ryan, Waurika, Duncan and Comanche – where Noah lived.
It included some of Noah’s closest friends, whose lives have been turned upside-down since his death.
Along with Avery, there was her sister Carter Combs and Noah’s best friend Jack Newton, who is also Carter’s boyfriend, as well as their pals Logan Jernigan, Brylan Sweat, Isaac Rojas, Kaden Pressy and Jasmine Millan.
About 40 people showed up, coming and going over the course of the weekend, and videos of the increasingly drunk antics popped up online.
These videos, watched by many locals as they were posted, became the only record of the last hours of Noah’s life.
A photo of Noah with his friends late on the Saturday night of the party
Noah’s body was found about a mile north along the highway from the small street where the party was held
The party was held at Avery and Carter’s grandfather’s trailer house – one of three on small a dirt road off the highway 1.2 miles north of town and surrounded by fields.
Saturday, September 2, 2023
One of the most crucial videos was from the Saturday night showing some of Noah’s friends, including Avery, writing their names on his bare buttocks with marker.
At some point that night, Noah got into an argument with his best friend Jack, after he complained about Noah being huddled in a corner talking to his girlfriend Carter.
‘We argued about girls for a second then ended up holding each other crying, telling each other how much we meant to one another,’ Jack told a friend in the weeks after Noah’s death.
Avery was also upset on Saturday night that Noah, whom she was said to be sleeping with at the time, was too close to another of their friends.
‘Noah fell asleep on the ground with Logan [Jernigan] on Saturday night – they didn’t do anything, but when I woke up I remember Avery saying to Logan “if you did anything, I was gonna kill y’all” but they laughed it off,’ Pressy later told police, according to their report.
This remark appeared to be the basis of a claim in the first amended complaint of the lawsuit that Avery ‘made one or more statements about harming or killing him.’
Noah drove home late that night and showered, but it was not clear how much of the stubborn marker he was able to wash off.
‘We argued about girls for a second then ended up holding each other crying telling each other how much we meant to one another,’ Jack told a friend in the weeks after Noah’s death
Noah (left) with Jasmine Millan (center), Jack Newton, and Carter Combs on the Saturday night of the party
Avery was also upset on Saturday night that Noah, whom she was said to be sleeping with at the time, was too close to another of their friends, Logan Jernigan (pictured)
Sunday, September 3, 2023
Sunday night – when Noah was filmed wearing black shorts – began when Jack was said to have called him at about 2.30pm.
Jack told Noah he would be going to the next day of the party, and Noah said he would come at least for a little while.
7pm
Several other partygoers pick up Noah from his home in Comanche, about 34 miles north of Terral on US-81.
They arrived about half an hour later and began drinking and partying with dozens of other friends.
At some point that day, Jack stopped at Napoli’s convenience store in Marlow, Oklahoma, where he allegedly bought alcohol for the party.
Jack is accused in the lawsuit of giving some of the booze to Noah and contributing to his intoxication.
Later the same evening
Numerous videos and photos were posted to Snapchat of drunken hijinks over the course of the evening. The exact time most of them were posted is unclear.
Some showed a shirtless Noah dancing inside the house, along with other partygoers, and a woman running through a piece of cardboard head first.
Photos around the same time showed Noah posing with his friends making silly faces, and standing in a bathroom with Jack.
Later in the evening, as the number of guests dwindled, those left began daring each other to slap them across the face while they stood still.
Noah took a palm to the face from a young blonde woman and barely flinched.
The party was to celebrate the 22nd birthday of Avery Jo Combs, whom Noah was said to be sleeping with at the time
Noah (left) poses with Jack in a bathroom at some point during the party
Late September 3 or early September 4
Noah fought at another point in the night after another friend, Mikey, accused him of hiding his phone.
Noah’s family claimed Mikey ‘fishhooked’ him, and had his finger bitten in retaliation – but some friends insisted the argument was never physical.
The phone was found under another friend who was sleeping on a couch, and the two boys made up.
Monday, September 4, 1.42am
The final video, the last known footage of Noah alive, showed him daring his friend Brylan Sweat to slap him as the girl had earlier.
Noah had to repeatedly insist that Brylan hit him, who eventually only gave him a light tap before sprinting away in playful fear of retaliation.
The same video showed another friend, Isaac Rojas, holding a rifle in the background as Noah cajoled Brylan into slapping him.
September 4, 1.50am
Jack claims he went to bed because he had to get up early and go fishing on Waurika Lake, about 30 miles north of Terral, with his father, Caleb Newton. The party continued without him.
The final video – the last known footage of Noah alive – showed him daring his friend Brylan Sweat to slap him
The same video showed another friend, Isaac Rojas, holding a rifle in the background as Noah cajoled Brylan into slapping him
A garage with a patio next to the house where some of the partying took place
3am: The ATV accident
The existence of the ATV accident is so universally agreed upon that it made it into the autopsy report. Noah had come out of it unscathed.
‘Earlier that night he [was riding in an ATV] and he flipped it but then after that he was just hanging out at the house,’ Stephanie Milan, one of the girls who was there, wrote in a Snapchat message to an inquiring local.
‘Like he turned it on its side but they flipped it back on its wheels.’
But the details, and what happened afterwards, vary wildly depending on the person, with some saying it occurred about midnight and others at 3am.
Jack, who owned the Polaris Ranger side-by-side, said he was asleep when the accident happened and he only knew about it second-hand.
‘I took my keys out of the SxS and apparently Noah came in my room and grabbed them while I was asleep. A bunch of people went and drove the Ranger and wrecked it,’ he told the Daily Mail in a 2024 interview.
Noah is generally agreed to be the one driving the Ranger when it flipped, and though he wasn’t injured, he was dirtied from when it hit the ground.
!['Earlier that night he [was riding in an ATV] and he flipped it but then after that he was just hanging out at the house,' Stephanie Milan, one of the girls who was there, wrote in a Snapchat message to an inquiring local](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/05/26/01/85343291-13400809-image-a-32_1716684653042.jpg)
‘Earlier that night he [was riding in an ATV] and he flipped it but then after that he was just hanging out at the house,’ Stephanie Milan, one of the girls who was there, wrote in a Snapchat message to an inquiring local
Noah argued with Avery (pictured) after he asked to sleep in her bed, but she refused and told him he had to sleep on the floor
Early hours of September 4, after the ATV accident
Carter and Jasmine are said to have helped Noah shower to clean the dirt off as he was too drunk to do it himself.
Avery’s mother Stevie Howard wrote in a Facebook comment that a video was posted online that showed them showering Noah – but the clip has never emerged.
Others said they remembered seeing the video at the time, but some of them claimed Noah was barely responsive.
The autopsy report said only a stick figure drawn in marker on Noah’s back was still visible on his body when it was found. When and how the names and doodles scribbled on him on Saturday night, along with more on his front visible in a photo from the Sunday, were washed off is still a matter of considerable debate.
After showering, Noah’s friends said he put on a different pair of shorts – described as being white in the autopsy report – and no underwear. Jack described them as ‘loose-fitting wrestling shorts.’
3.15am to 3.30am: Noah goes missing
Noah soon after argued with Avery after he asked to sleep in her bed, but she refused and told him he had to sleep on the floor.
‘She told him he couldn’t sleep in her bed because he messed with her friend the night before,’ Jack told a friend earlier this year.
The argument upset Noah, and he wandered off into the night ‘to cool off,’ never to be seen alive again.
‘He walked off to clear his head but he wasn’t mad and there was no beef… We don’t know why he got mad. No one had beef,’ Stephanie wrote in her Snapchat message.
Noah’s friends said he had a habit of wandering off from social gatherings and for a while they didn’t think that night was any different.
Noah argued with Avery after he asked to sleep in her bed, but she refused and told him he had to sleep on the floor
Jasmine posted this selfie to Snapchat at 3.41am with the caption ‘well, Noah’s missing’, which continues to fuel condemnation and speculation
3.41am
Jasmine posted a selfie to Snapchat at 3.41am with the caption ‘well, Noah’s missing,’ which continues to fuel condemnation and speculation.
‘I just want to make something clear I posted this picture not knowing that the worst was gonna happen, not knowing Noah would never come back,’ she later wrote in a Facebook post defending herself.
‘It was normal for Noah to wonder [sic] off nobody thought he wouldn’t be back.’
Jack told a friend those still awake eventually did go looking for him, but were still not in fear of his safety.
‘After he was gone for a while, everyone was looking for him, they said, but knowing Noah I bet he was kidding and didn’t let anyone find him,’ he wrote.
Jack told the Daily Mail his ATV was even part of the search: ‘They said they took my Ranger to look for him in the ditches and stuff, but knowing Noah he was probably seeing everyone looking for him and was just hiding out.’
The friends said they didn’t find Noah and returned to the house, assuming he would eventually turn up.
Jack Newton, 22, and his fiancée, Carter Combs, 23, are both named in the Presgrove family lawsuit. The couple have since welcomed a baby together after announcing they were expecting in March last year
Carter Combs – Avery’s sister – was also named in the lawsuit as one of the hosts of the party
Jack, who insists he was asleep when the teenager died, summarized the basic chain of events to a friend weeks after the party
Before 5.30am
Chris Payette was driving south on US-81 when he felt a bump as he hit an object on the road, but drove on believing it was a small animal.
He contacted police later that day after hearing about Presgrove’s death, who examined his pickup truck and cleared him of any involvement.
The object he hit is believed to be a roll of carpet that was found a mile or two north of Presgrove’s body.
Police forensically tested his car about a year later after new investigators took over the case, and again cleared him.
5.30am
Jack said he woke up ready to go fishing sometime after 5.30am and was told his best friend was missing.
‘I figured maybe he got a ride or something, Noah’s done that before – got mad and left,’ he told the Daily Mail.
‘He was not one you usually worry about. I wasn’t really thinking about it.’
5.43am: Noah’s body is found
Noah was only found when two vehicles traveling along US-81 spotted his body by the side of the road in the early hours of the morning and called 911.
The two callers were Gulfmark Energy field supervisor Tyler Hardy, and a semi-truck driver also named Tyler, who didn’t give his last name to the 911 operator.
Three calls were placed from the area, but one of them was just 20 seconds of static that local police said was Hardy on a bad signal.
‘He had a bad connection and he to re-call. I confirmed it was the same phone number,’ he said.
The first call at 5.43am was from Tyler, whom Hardy earlier said was a trucker for Oklahoma Petroleum Allies who turned around in Terral, about two miles south, and came back to the scene.
‘I had a bunch of cars behind me, but it looks like someone got hit, like somebody walking down the highway, [they are] lying on the shoulder in the road,’ he said.
‘Yeah, like on the shoulder, like maybe they were walking and somebody hit them… unless it was a deer, but it looked like a body.’
Gulfmark Energy field supervisor Tyler Hardy (pictured with his wife Mallory) was the first known person to find Noah’s body, and called 911 at 5:48 am
Drone footage showing where Presgrove’s body was found (bottom circle) and the party house in the distance (top circle) about 1.2 miles away
Presgrove’s body was found by the side of US-18, a lonely highway in rural Oklahoma that eventually runs between Oklahoma City and Dallas
The dispatcher assured Tyler that she would have an officer respond to the situation, and then said Sheriff Wilson was on his way.
Hardy, who was one of the cars behind Tyler, pulled over next to Noah and called 911 at 5.48am. His first call failed and he immediately tried again.
‘I was driving to work south of Terral, and I am pretty sure someone is lying dead on the side of the road,’ he said.
‘They look naked, I’m staying back.’
The dispatcher told him that a deputy was heading toward the scene to address the situation.
Hardy responded that he was parked in the middle of the road, so he could prevent other motorists from driving over the body.
‘I am sitting here blocking the road. The body is lying right on the white line… I turned around because I just about hit it,’ he said.
‘At first, I thought it was a deer, and I was talking to a guy I work with and said, “I don’t think that is a deer.”‘
Hardy then told the dispatcher that ‘it actually looks like there’s a piece of clothing lying in the middle of the road.’
‘I don’t want to get too close… I’ll just go ahead and make sure nobody runs it over or anything else,’ he said.
The clothing was a pair of white shorts, according to the autopsy report, that some of Noah’s friends said he was last seen wearing.
By the time police arrived, the shorts were folded near Noah’s body, as they were described in the autopsy report.
Jack later said he retrieved the shorts and folded them in the few minutes before local police arrived to prevent vehicles running them over.
Noah’s body was found on the side of the highway, in the area marked between the two chalk lines. The circles show where his teeth were found. In the background is a memorial set up for the teenager
Photos of police chalk outlines showed where Noah’s body (marked by the white line) and at least one of his teeth (marked by the circle) were found
Jack texted his father, Caleb Newton, at 5.53am letting him know he was on his way
Jack’s father Caleb Newton is pictured with his wife
5.53am
Jack texted his father, Caleb Newton, letting him know he was on his way to the lake to meet him for the fishing trip.
‘I’ll meet y’all at the lake. Can you bring me a hat please… Someone messed with mine after I went to bed,’ he wrote. Caleb replied ‘ok.’
Jack still assumed Noah was fine and left for the lake, driving north until he saw the semi-trailer and pickup by the side of the road.
6.05am
Jack called his dad to tell him of Noah’s death, moments after pulling over and seeing his best friend lying on the side of the road.
‘I was standing on my boat in my yard, I know exactly where I was when that call came in,’ Caleb later said.
Jack returned to the house and woke some of the partygoers to tell them the bad news, then drove back to the scene to wait for his father.
6.18am
The first cop on the scene, Jefferson County Undersheriff Jimmy Williams, arrived in response to the two 911 calls.
He only took a brief look before focusing on securing the area but told the Daily Mail there was not enough blood for it to be starkly noticeable.
‘I didn’t observe a lot [of blood] from what little I was there checking – once we determined he was in fact dead, I was just securing the location,’ he said.
The undersheriff said there were only five people at the scene when he arrived, and he was joined by Sheriff Jeremie Wilson six minutes later at 6.24am.
Along with the two motorists who called 911 were two Terral Rural Volunteer Fire Department officers, including its chief, who arrived at 6.15am, and Jack.
Williams said from when he arrived to when he left at 8.17am, only the sheriff and Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) troopers came to the scene.
‘We kept traffic moving except for people who needed to be there… not long after OHP arrived we shut the road down completely,’ he said.
Noah’s sister Madison Rawlings (pictured together) filed a lawsuit against six of his friends and three adults claiming he was beaten to death. All of them have denied liability
Noah was a high school football player until his graduation in May 2023
April 18, 2024
The Daily Mail publishes its first investigation into Noah’s death, kicking off a flurry of interest in the case.
May 1, 2024
The OHP makes its first statement about the case in months, revealing it was not investigating Noah’s death as a murder.
It did not explicitly rule out manslaughter and insisted the investigation was still ongoing. The agency has refused to make any substantive statement since.
May 11, 2024
Noah’s autopsy report is released, ruling he suffered massive head and upper body injuries that led him to die from internal bleeding.
June 23, 2025
Noah’s family files a wrongful death lawsuit against Avery, Carter, Jack and Logan, along with Caleb Newton, Stevie Howard, Johnnie Wilcoxson and the shop that sold Jack the alcohol.
October 2026
The first page of the lawsuit’s first amended complaint leaks on social media, adding Jasmine Millan, Brylan Sweat and Christopher Payette to the defendants and removing Caleb Newton.
