A gay man remains hospitalized, barely clinging to life in Atlanta following the discovery of his bloodied body on train tracks in the neighborhood of Buckhead.
Paramedics rushed Joshua Dowd, 28, to the hospital early Sunday (July 18) morning. A passer-by noticed his body on the train tracks, barely breathing and bleeding from the head. Apart from the passer-by, the area was deserted at the time.
Related: Three arrested following brutal hate crime-murder of a gay man in Spain
“I’m in freefall,” Colin Kelly, Dowd’s boyfriend of three and a half years, told local news station CBS46. “We don’t have a lot of information to go on.”
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“I don’t know how he got there. It’s not an area he would typically be in,” Kelly added. “As far as I can tell, someone hit him with something very hard on his head.”
Kelly further recalled that Dowd had gone out with friends on Sunday night. He separated from the group at some point during the evening, though details as to why, where he was going, or who he might have been meeting remain unknown.
“I really hope we get answers because someone hurt him,” Kelly said. “He’s fighting very hard for his life right now, but someone hurt him and it’s very severe.”
Friends and family of Dowd have started a GoFundMe to help cover his medical expenses. At the time of this writing, it has raised $68,000 of a $100,000 goal.
Police have classified the case of Dowd as “Miscellaneous Non-crime,” though a police spokesperson stressed the investigation is in the early stages and ongoing.
Joshua Dowd remains hospitalized, with severe brain damage and an uncertain medical prognosis. Colin Kelly continues to pray for his recovery.
“Everything I know revolved around Josh,” Kelly said. “Everything I loved revolved around Josh. Everything reminds me of Josh. We’re still holding out hope.”
Mack
Police have classified the case of Dowd as “Miscellaneous Non-crime,”
Someone (especially a LGBTQ person) half beaten to death and they call it a “miscellaneous Non-Crime”. No surprise there for Georgia.
Essie
I think that description is just “filler” until the investigation begins. Right now, they don’t know if he fell and hit his head (unlikely) or if someone or more than one beat him. No need to get upset about legal BS from the police. There is a process to go through with these things.
barryaksarben
no one attacked and nearly murdered is hardly a non crime
Fname Optional Lname
We are being hunted! We can never let our guard down and we best believe that there is a long road ahead of us!
phoenixpip
Omg I used to follow him on Tumblr.
I hope he pulls through.
Kangol2
Absolutely horrific. I hope they find out what happened to him and who attacked him. I’m not going to trash his friends, but I will say, if you’re out with friends and drinking, please do all you can to keep an eye on them, to the fullest extent possibl efind out where they’re going if they are heading off on their own, and so on. We have to look out for each other because there’s no guarantee anyone else will.
Lilopt
Someone is beaten to an inch of death, is taken to a hospital and is fighting for his life.
And – again! – a GoFundMe is collecting contributions to pay for health expenses “incurred”.
In Europe he would not have to pay a single cent!
Greatest country in the world my foot…
You should be ashamed of being Americans.
Essie
You should have insurance to pay for your medical expenses. Sorry. Nobody wants to live in a “nanny state” where you get everything handed to you just because you exist. People should have a job with insurance.
PerhapsYesNoMaybe
Essie: You don’t speak for anyone but yourself. So you are going to turn down your Social Security benefits if you live in the USA?
GayEGO
This is horrific! Bleeding from the head? I hope he remembers what happened and can help them identify the culprit so the police can arrest him. This sounds like a hate crime!