Officials investigating whether NC teen fell from plane

MILTON, Mass. -- Investigators are looking into whether a North Carolina teenager who was found dead in a Milton street may have fallen out of a plane.

The body of 16-year-old Delvonte Tisdale was discovered mangled on a Milton road in an upscale neighborhood on Nov. 15.

Nearly 850 miles away, family members were baffled as to why the teenager would run from home and possibly risk his life hiding in the wheel well of a plane.

Delvonte’s father, Anthony Tisdale,  dispelled rumors that his son, a junior ROTC member, seemed unhappy in Charlotte and missed Baltimore, where he lived until he was 13-years-old, and that he ran away.

“My son was ecstatic with Charlotte. He loved Charlotte. He loved the area. He loved his high school,” said Anthony Tisdale.

Milton Police found Tisdale’s body on the same day he was reported missing. He was only wearing jeans that contained a note with his name on it. His body was so mutilated that the medical examiner could not give a cause of death.

Officials are looking into the stowaway theory, saying it’s unlikely, but flight patterns do go over Milton.

Friends of the family said Tisdale didn’t have a preoccupation with planes.

“No fascination with planes of any sort, so we have no idea actually where that comes from,” said Pastor James Woodson, a family friend.

Tisdale was a member of the Air Force ROTC program at his high school.

They said that if the teen somehow snuck into the plane’s wheel well, subzero temperatures or the extreme altitude likely would have killed him before the fall.

Tisdale’s family just wants answers.

“It’s a hard loss for us. It’s a difficult thing for us to accept still now, because I still can’t believe that my son isn’t with us,” said Anthony Tisdale.

The district attorney’s office would not specifically comment on the airplane theory, but they said they are investigating every possibility.

Officials from an airport in Charlotte told 7NEWS that on the day Tisdale disappeared, they had no security breaches.

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