October 6, 2017 should have been a great day for Ludington High School.  It was their homecoming football game that night which figured to be a great opportunity for the up and down team to score a win against the lackluster Mancelona Ironmen team.  The game would come almost immediately after the traditional parade through the downtown out to Oriole Field starting at 6 PM.  The homecoming dance would be the next day.  

But while the football team and many of their students, parents and other fans were savoring their domination of the Ironmen in the first half, selecting their homecoming royalty, and preparing to finish off the hapless Mancelonans, something happened way across the county that would make the weekend turn somber.  At approximately 8:03 PM, Henry MacDougall, 16, drove a 2007 Pontiac G5 past a stop sign going towards Ludington on Sugar Grove Road and under a northward bound tractor-trailer on US 31 going at highway speed.  MacDougall would be critically injured and die the next day.  

One hundred and three days later, Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole acknowledged that the day following the crash somebody alerted the MCSO of a Snapchat video posted hours before the crash showing MacDougall with two others doing marijuana butter presumably that day.  Due to the nature of the crash, impaired driving was widely speculated on by the public at the time.  The stop sign MacDougall blew past was reflective, some wore-down rumble strips preceded the sign, and the tractor-trailer was lit up and hard to miss for somebody paying attention to the road.

This speculation would gain ground with the silence of the investigating MCSO about any cause over the days, then months that followed.  No possible distraction was noted so how do you otherwise explain the lack of appropriate response to the rumble strips, stop sign, and lumbering semi?  Then over 100 days after Sheriff Cole seen concrete proof MacDougall had been using a controlled substance, the public finally gets that confirmation.  

Sheriff Cole had the opportunity to make it publicly known by the end of that weekend that it was highly suspected that impaired driving was involved and that they were doing tests to either confirm or rule it out.  He decided not to, perhaps it was because his agency is abnormally protective of disseminating information or that perhaps he wanted to be sensitive to the family and friends of Henry MacDougall.   Maybe it was the flawed idea that such a general statement would lessen his ability to catch and arrest the others in the Snapchat photo.  

Whichever, the MCSO would have likely gotten the results of a post-mortem blood drug test within a couple of weeks; the drug analysis of James Walkley who was found dead on September 25th in the Ludington school forest was finished, ironically enough, 11 days later on the same day MacDougall died.  

Which means the MCSO investigators kept the results secret for 3 months, and would likely have kept MacDougall's impairment hid forever had there not been this latest development.  If that tidbit had been given to the public it should not have hindered any further investigations, in fact, it may have had more people with knowledge come forward.  Think of what that means for a moment.

Henry MacDougall's Snapchat friends, and their friends, mostly minors learning their lessons about life, had seen for themselves that Henry was doing a highly controlled, illegal substance, knew that the knowledge had been given to the police, and witnessed the police suppressing that information from the rest of the public for many months.   

Many kids and young adults were probably fearful that if they told the wrong people their knowledge, that the sheriff and his deputies would go after them-- for telling the truth to others before the sheriff got the opportunity to. Sheriff Cole raked me specifically for revealing the name of James Walkley before he wanted it publicly released in interviews he gave with local print media and radio stations.   

Having these impressionable youths and potential informants keep secrets likely blocked additional avenues of fact-finding that made what seems to be an easy investigation turn into a 100+ day affair.  These are terrible life lessons; these are terrible investigative techniques most of the time.

Worse, Sheriff Cole had the opportunity to use his pulpit to get the message out the weekend of homecoming  to our youths that driving while impaired is dangerous and what appears to be the case in their peer's death.  He had the opportunity to punctuate that message a couple of weeks later when MacDougall's test results came back positive (if they did, Sheriff Cole even now doesn't make that clear).

And Sheriff Cole had the opportunity to make up for those omissions now, when they have arrested the older man in the Snapchat post on unrelated drug charges due to the warrant they got from that post supplied by one of MacDougall's true friends.  That message seems mainly to be lost, however, with the sheriff's blather about other things.  

He did manage to do some speculating himself in the local newspaper:  “The individuals (who supplied MacDougall with marijuana) basically handed Henry the gun. They could have stopped him from driving,” Cole said. “Having kids myself, I can’t imagine what his family is going through.
“It’s not a victimless crime and our goal was to provide answers to (MacDougall’s) parents and the truck driver.”

Sheriff Cole's goal should be to provide truthful and complete answers to everybody, and not to supply a speculative narrative of what happened without solid proof and/or a solid confession of the man he arrested.  He taints the jury pool and the professionalism of his position by doing so.

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I just found out yesterday that the Sheriff lied once again in another recent major drug death in Mason County. Details of what happened and details of what really transpired. I understand protecting the family seems important. But, others who continue to do the same things this person did which killed this person cannot be shared honestly or be believed to get the message out that this is what happens when you do this.... It is utterly irresponsible and appalling.  MCP also printed LIES to cover up the truth in that incident for the Sheriff's office. It seems the only interest the Sheriff has is to Protect his own at any cost irregardless of accountability and, to undermine those who seek accountability and transparency.

If you're talking about what I think you're talking about, I have knew this information (or misinformation) for awhile.  You need to understand that Sheriff Cole wasn't all that concerned about the family of the dead in that case, rather he was concerned about saving face for himself and the local justice system.  

Please private message me about what you have just found out, John, I am still at a loss for understanding all of the crazy particulars I have been able to chronicle in that case, maybe you have some missing info that makes what happened in the background less insane.

It's sad when two people can immediately conclude the same thoughts, simultaneously as if telepathic.

The reason for this I believe is the common quest for truth' 

It just goes to show us the significance of truth and, how it effects each and every one of us.

The truth is important for more than knowing. The truth is important to educating,awareness,treatment,and funding.

How can our City prevent further deaths and hardships,and burdens on the taxpayers without relative reported factual data?

Saying, "this is not what happened" and, "this is something else" not only loses the trust of the Public but, It also loses the advantage to be remedied.

The Officials have concluded it's their way or the highway'

Is it legally, morally or ethically right to prevent access to the truth?

To lie under Oath of Duty and misrepresent facts and falsify evidence?

What's the gain? How will people heal?

Prayers are not cutting it.

Sadly those that would benefit from the lesson are the ones preaching on other media sites that weed doesn't hurt anyone.  LOTS of people spouting off on how its not the drugs that killed him, its not that a 16 YO was dabbing wax that caused it, its nobody fault.  Classic BS that nobody wants to man up and admit ANYTHING.  I'm a bit on the inside of this whole deal so I am a bit slanted but most people who are into drugs, alcohol, gambling, smoking or any other addiction aren't going to listen to an outside voice, especially one they see as the enemy.  LOE's are the enemy if you are pothead, if someone pinches your dime bag you aren't calling Kims guys for help.  IF you are 16, snort, smoke or drink you know DAMN WELL what you are doing.  There are people that have been revived 2-3 times from an OD session only to do it again, if that doesn't sink in how is PSA from the local Sherriff going to help? 

Many of our teachers and many of our parents believe in and teach our kids this modern philosophy of people not being responsible for their actions that you mention, they often deride those that point out that their bad choices sometimes have unpleasant consequences.  

I see Sheriff Kim Cole's avoidance of 'manning up' and delivering the truth in a timely manner as a weakness that allows the not-my-fault philosophy to flourish and grow.  This makes the fantasy that Henry MacDougall had no part in his demise, it was two people who gave him access to the drugs he brought or borrowed, and then seems to have voluntarily used.  It was the fault of two people that he drove the car away and to his doom.  

Whenever the opportunity presents itself, I have noticed Sheriff Cole will take the path that offers him and his merry men the opportunity to have job security by being passive and reactive regarding drug use when proactive measures should be employed.  It's often a more subtle process than the usual drug-apologists use.

When the virtues of accountability and integrity is sorely lacking in most of society, we shouldn't be surprised that they will be sorely lacking in our police and government agencies.  In theory, the Tytler Cycle shows that those virtues will eventually show themselves to be in style again... after some dark times.  

I feel badly for the boys family or any family that must deal with a nonsensical death. Fortunately there are always some signs that drug or alcohol abuse is taking place but many people choose to let things ride in hopes that it is just a passing stage of life that someone is going thru. This is a major worry for me especially with some family members who have friends that began using pot in grade school. I'm afraid that if pot is legalized for recreational use the slippery slope will become easier to access. Pot will be laying around the house like packs of cigarettes and will become increasingly available to younger children. I used to have the Libertarian attitude that people should be able to to as they please, however the collateral damage drugs and alcohol cause, especially to families, cannot be ignored.

I suffer your dilemma as well.  I have gradually come to terms that having medical marihuana available is good for those with medical conditions that may call for it as the best alternative.  I just can't figure out why we can't have drug companies make and your corner pharmacists dispense these medical marihuana prescriptions rather than develop the current system which needlessly turn otherwise innocent caregivers and patients into criminals too often because of conflicting and arbitrary laws.

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