Teen who left party apparently drowned

Unclear whether girl was drinking

Taylor Meyer told friends she would call for a ride home, but her call was garbled.

Taylor Meyer, the 17-year-old Plainville girl who was found dead Monday after she wandered from a Friday night drinking party in Norfolk, appears to have drowned in the swamp where she was found, the Norfolk district attorney's office said yesterday.

Investigators do not suspect foul play. Meyer suffered no trauma before she died, according to preliminary autopsy results. The official cause of death has not yet been determined, and more medical tests will be conducted.

Police have not specifically said Meyer was drinking at the party. A toxicology test will be performed.

But the autopsy results helped piece together what happened to Meyer when she left a bonfire and party underway among about two dozen friends from King Philip Regional High School Friday night. Police said the teens were celebrating their football team's homecoming game victory with beer and vodka shots.

People in the community continued to grieve over the death of the popular, friendly senior. Some began talking about what lessons could be drawn from the state's latest death related to teen drinking. Many said the news was still too raw as they struggled to understand the loss.

"Everybody, for all practical purposes, is still in shock and still trying to deal with what's happened," Pat Francomano, chairman of the regional School Committee, said in an interview late Tuesday.

"It's still very early to know what's going to happen and how we move from this point."

Police did not know Meyer was missing until about 5 p.m. on Saturday, after her family realized her whereabouts were unknown. Meyer apparently had told her family she was staying overnight with friends Friday.

Meyer told people at the party she was going to call for a ride home, but a cellphone call she made to a relative at 10:57 p.m. was garbled. She then apparently walked from the woods near a defunct airport in Norfolk, where the students were partying, into the treacherous swamp area where her body was found.

As the investigation into the death continued, Norfolk Police Chief Charles Stone was trying to tactfully but emphatically remind teenagers and their parents of the all-too-common problems with underage drinking.

"The kids and the parents, they [need to] keep an eye on each other and work together and work together with us," he said.

Communities that have suffered similar losses respond in different ways.

The death of two Southborough sisters three years ago Friday, the day Meyer went missing, in a car accident after an underage party brought about new alliances between teenagers and parents, such as a chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions at the regional high school. Parents agreed to host alcohol-free parties, and sent e-mail alerts to each other about any concerns with their children.

Mark Leahy - chief of police in Northborough, where the sisters' accident occurred - said the community's healing needed the partnership of students and parents. And police have responded to any reports of underage drinking with a newfound resilience, he said, because "you can never forget."

"If you don't do it there will be another group [of students] who will mourn the loss by delving into drinking and drugs," he said. "You don't want to see more kids killed. You don't want to see more kids get hurt."

Police and school officials are still trying to decide how best to respond in Norfolk and Plainville.

"There's no way to prepare emotionally for things like this," said Richard J. Robbat, superintendent of the King Philip Regional School District, which serves Wrentham, Norfolk, and Plainville, near Interstate 495 southwest of Boston.

He said the school has provided grief counselors to students, and in weeks to come the district may consider a communitywide response to Meyer's death.

Students have been told of Meyer's funeral arrangements and are encouraged to be accompanied by an adult if they attend.

Calling hours are from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday at the Sperry & McHoul Funeral Home on Grove Street in North Attleborough. A funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Mary's Church in North Attleborough. The Meyer family has requested that students who attend wear pink in memory of the teenager.