Kathryn Schulz
Shark Attack
An Amity high school senior was
found mauled to death by an unidentified attacker after disappearing during a
late night swim. Police are investigating the murder.
Chrissie Watson, 17 of Amity, was
last seen leaving a beach party with Christopher P. Hoggenbottam 111, a Trinity
college sophomore. Both were heavily intoxicated on their way to go for a late
night swim at a remote section of South Beach near South Beach Shoal bell buoy according
to Police Chief, Martin Brody.
“I saw what was left of this body,”
Brody said. “There was a hand sticking up out of sand with some jewelry on it
and that was about all I saw. It was in a pile of sand and seaweed and there
were crabs crawling around the scene. I’ll save the rest for the sake of the
family. It was a grizzly scene.”
After a night of no return,
Hoggenbottam reported the missing person to the police around 6 a.m. He said to
have passed out on the beach and reported the young woman missing as soon as he
awoke according to Police Chief.
Watson was a member of the Amity
Varsity swim team, and a lifeguard at the Amity Island YMCA pool in Oak Bluffs.
The night was calm, wind was blowing south at 3.45 mph at 72 degrees
Fahrenheit.
“We are still waiting for word on
autopsy,” Brody said. “We are exploring an entire range of possibilities. Could
be a pack of wild dogs. Could have been an assault by an individual or a group
of individuals.”
The beaches remain open to the
public and swimming is not prohibited. Despite the death of young Watson,
police believe that there is reason for her death other than her late night
swim.
“A shark attack is just one of the
things we are looking into,” Brody said. “I really doubt that, it just doesn’t
happen in this neck of the woods. It would happen in the beaches down south.”
The death is still being
investigated and police are still waiting on autopsy results to reveal the
method of death of Watson.
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