Following the roadside
encounter and the strange visitation prior to the meltdown at Fermi II a police
memorandum had been issued instructing officers to be on the lookout for “an
adult male, approximately 6’ tall, possibly homeless” wanted for questioning.
Sources made available to this publication show that the FBI had less patience
for the so-called “Marsh man” instructing that should any individual appear on
the premises of any federal institution he was to be apprehended immediately.
The efforts of law enforcement were of course made more challenging by the
proliferation of reports coming in to officials describing interactions with
this now-mythical figure. Some of the more outlandish claimed that his origins
were extra-terrestrial. Another described in detail how the figure levitated
out from the swampy waters and proceeded to advise a young woman that she
should leave her boyfriend. Perhaps self-aware of becoming a crypto-zoological
“Dear Abby” column, the haunting individual apparently took to the road and
reports became common throughout the Midwest, in select cities on the eastern
seaboard, and, of course, Florida.
The truth about Tovar’s
whereabouts during this time, like much of his story, is murky. There do seem
to be some adequately credible reports out of Put-in-Bay and Pelee Island. The
possibility of finding a decent degree of solitude on the shores of these
islands seems realistic. The reality is that we may never know.
What we can be assured of
is that on the morning of September 4th, Prince Tovar woke up from a
night’s sleep in the pre-dawn hours. His camp, if one could call it that, was
on an untraversed stretch of shore about 5 minutes east of Magee Marsh and
about a ten minute walk from Ohio Route 2. That distance might as well have
been 10 miles for the spot which he has made his home was nestled in a small
cove shallow enough to discourage boats and the entrance covered enough to
shade his presence from any onlooker from either shore or sea.
Over the course of the
morning he made his way northward along the coast apparently catching fish
along the way. By this time he had grown accustomed to eating them raw so there
was no need to light a fire. In the remains of his camp there were leavings of
many fires so it would seem that he still continued to make them both for
warmth and to cook his catch. At any rate by mid-afternoon he had found a spot
at Metzger Marsh hidden on an embankment to wait out the day and the various
people who used the marsh’s path to run, hike, or bird watch. Tovar was quite
cautious to avoid as many eyes as possible it would seem. He must have been
quite good to account for his nearly two and a half years of undisturbed wild
living.
It seems the most
providential and tragic events pivot on tiny twists of fate. Perhaps that is
the only time we are truly able to witness and comprehend the complex web of
interactions that shape our existence. Either way, those series of choices;
those coin flip moments seem to shine out at us in the musings of hindsight.
A scheduling mistake let to
Carmen Anghellini getting the day off from her work at Target. She had put in a
request form months before for a doctor’s appointment. The appointment got
rescheduled but she never rescinded the time of request. She counted it as a
bonus.
Instead of sending her
children, Marcus, 6, and Tara, 3, to the babysitter she took them out herself.
She wanted them to get outside; to enjoy nature like her parents had helped her
to appreciate. On a whim, on that simple turn of fate, she decided upon Metzger
Marsh to let the kids see the lake and enjoy the animals in the marsh. Marcus
loved exploring and seeing new animals.
A row of people lined the
canal, set up in lawn chairs with their fishing lines drifting in the slow
current. Gulls rose and fell on the winds searching for scraps or trash. While
Carmen was getting Tara situated in her stroller, Marcus was already running
ahead to the crushed gravel path and disappearing behind the rows of trees. She
called for him to return and he obliged. The next twenty minutes her words
served as a leash for the young and very exuberant boy. Every time he got too
far away she called him back.
The path was surrounded by
trees on the southern side for about a quarter of a mile before the land gave
way and the path became a narrow strip of land separating the waters of the
lake from the waters of the marsh. It continued for about a mile, completely
straight until a sign informed them that it was illegal to continue beyond that
point.
The straightness of the
path gave Carmen confidence she could afford Marcus a little longer leash that
normal because at least she could see him. He was attentive and her cry always
brought him back.
At about 2:30pm she stopped
to help the nearly asleep Tara get her hat back on. When she looked up, Marcus
was merely a spot on the horizon. She called out. He was there. Then he was
not.
She started to run pushing
her daughter in the stroller. This proved cumbersome but her panic helped her
stop and adeptly get the sleepy Tara out of the stroller. She began to run. She
wasn’t even sure where she had last seen her son. The terrain of the marsh was
minimal and every spot along it seemed the same as the last. Reaching the point
she thought he might have last been she began to scream; screaming with the
desperation of one who has truly lost something infinitely valuable. Other
pedestrians tried to ask her questions but she was in no state to explain what
had happened. She only knew that her son was gone. Someone called the police.
The placid waters of the
marsh were undisturbed. On the other, the waves of the lake lapped away
absently against the large blocks of repurposed concrete that served as a wave
break.
Moments passed. No one
could remember exactly how long.
Officers Andrew Sanchez and
Mark Tyler, who had been nearby, responded. Sanchez preemptively called for an
ambulance but the two entered the park by themselves. As they started down the
trail at a jog they could see where a crowd had gathered. It took them precious
moments to reach Carmen who was obviously the disturbed party. Tyler tried to
get a concise summary of events out of Carmen but the woman was too distraught.
A jogger tried to translate the screams and sobs.
As all eyes scanned the
waters of the lake and the marsh around where Carmen stood, no one looked up
the trail about 75 feet, where in fact, the boy had actually fallen. Had they
been looking, they would have seen a grimy and disheveled Prince Tovar emerge
from the lake cradling the limp body of Marcus in his arms. Blood oozed from a
gash on the boy’s head where he had collided with the rocks as he fell toward
the lake. Tovar, who it is reported never had any training in first aid or CPR
was attempting to resuscitate the boy. He cradled the boy’s head in his palms
which he held out before him in a limp act of desperation. His eyes fixed on
the motionless child he appeared moved (as some bystanders later recounted) and
seemed to be near breaking into tears.
This is when Officer
Sanchez saw the man or what seemed to be a man, looming over the unconscious
boy. He shouted for the man to leave. Tovar appeared not to hear. Officer Tyler
tried to hold back Carmen and the crowd that had gathered from approaching any
nearer. Sanchez drew his weapon and advanced. From later reports, Sanchez did
note that there was a moment when he realized that this figure fit the
descriptions of the “Marsh man” and was aware that he was a person of interest.
While he might have known, little registered
as he approached the unresponsive man crouched over the boy.
Tovar seemed not to
register the officer at all, or any of the other bystanders for that matter.
All his attention was on the boy, his hands running over his arms, squeezing
his hands, trying anything (in this reporter’s opinion) to breathe life back
into young Marcus.
Whether it was the
desperation and helplessness that drove Tovar we will never know. Perhaps he
came to the realization he knew nothing about helping the boy whose life seemed
to be speedily slipping away. What we know is that he stood up, quickly, and
stepped toward the advancing officer who was about twenty feet away.
Sanchez reacted with two
shots at the approaching man. We cannot perhaps blame him for his prejudice. Tovar
wore a pair of shorts that were ripped and torn in a dozen places. His hair was
overgrown and littered with muck and weeds. Even Prince’s eyes were hidden
behind a mop of hair that shrouded his forehead. His appearance, coupled with
his curiously ominous appearances surely would have given any officer cause.
None of this mattered of
course. The shots hit Tovar in the shoulder and upper chest. He stumbled
backwards over the boy and slumped to the side of the trail about five feet
back.
Officer Tyler rushed
forward to check on the boy, followed closely by the boy’s mother. Officer
Sanchez approached Tovar who had collapsed immediately and had not moved. Tovar
was unresponsive to the officer’s questions and drawn gun.
The moments passed.
Ambulances arrived about
five minutes later. CPR was performed on the scene by EMTs and Marcus began to
breathe on this own after a few minutes. The gash on his head was more of a
cause for concern and he was lifted onto the gurney and taken to the waiting
ambulance as the confused fishermen looked on.
Tovar never again woke.
He lay where he had fallen.
One of the bullets had lodged in his shoulder. The other had perforated a lung
and his heart. His eyes, hidden behind the grime and the years of neglect
stared out in a look of perplexed concern. They would never again see the
world. His hands would never again play the keys that he felt brought beauty
and life into the world.
We
cannot be too quick to lay blame on Officer Sanchez for his use of lethal
force. Though we can, and should, ask good hard questions, we realize the
complexity and confusion of the situation; the apparently immediate danger to
the life of the boy. Indeed, the very bulletins issued by the police department
and FBI would indicate such a response was warranted. Sanchez himself has said
that he deeply regrets the decisions especially after investigations into the
boy’s injuries show that they were most likely cause by a fall onto the rocks
and only after, submersion. Marcus, for his part, confirmed as much of this as
he could remember. No charges were filed over Tovar’s death nor are any
pending.
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