Meaghan Bosch Found -- Dead, Outside of Waco

By Robert Wilonsky Wed., May 16 2007 at 7:30 AM

Categories: News

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Two days ago, an e-mail concerning missing SMU student Meaghan Bosch made the rounds and wound up, among many other places, on Unfair Park. Turns out, as everyone in town was posting the missive, Bosch's body was being discovered -- in a portable toilet in Hewitt, a town just south of Waco, where construction workers found Bosch absent obvious signs of trauma. Reports the Associated Press, the last time anyone knew of Bosch's whereabouts was Thursday afternoon -- "when she sent her ex-boyfriend a text message saying she was at the home of a drug dealer."

The Dallas Morning News adds that police have interviewed the dealer, who admitted that he had lunch with Bosch in the mid-afternoon on Thursday. But he says she was never at his house in Dallas. Both stories contain this information: Bosch most likely started using cocaine two months ago. --Robert Wilonsky

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No chance you're Meghan's aunt. If you are - you have better things to do than read the blogs. It's unhealthy in times of grief to expose yourself to such things. It is true that everyone deserves to be found via proper and lots of media coverage. Many people of other races haven't received that. So sad, no matter who is missing - or harmed.
It is a sad thing regardless of whom the victim is/was.The fact still stands..is that the news media USE the death's of people for ratings (money).Unless it is their own family members would they even care in the least.Not all are the same,but the majority is. I am so tired of hearing about color issues by those that keep it going just to be heard or whatever reason.It is obvious that those individuals keep "color" issues alive for their own reasons.Ppl don't see the real issue's anymore.Notice when a comment is made in reply,that they say "oh, I apologize" in a single sentence and yet when it comes to color it is a paragraph.(the issue that really matters to them)It is sad to say the least that ALL PEOPLE make a wrong decision sometime in their lives and yet it is even more sad to know that people use it for their own personal gain. God Bless the families of all victims.
Folks, there is much pain here. Right, wrong, or otherwise...Meaghan was a lovely lady. We all make mistakes. Some of us get caught. Meaghan...I hope you are smiling in Heaven. Meaghan's aunt and family... justice will be done.
Anonymous II As a classmate of meaghans both at MHS and later at SMU, I can tell you with confidence that there is not "rampant cocaine us" on campus. Any other SMU student will tell you the same.
To echo my brother's message above, I beg of you all -- anyone with ANY information, please call. We need your help to make sure this doesn't happen to someone else.
I would hope anyone with any possible information regarding this would contact the Texas Rangers to discuss it. The smallest detail that you feel insignificant may infact help. Please call Terry Welch of the Texas Rangers at 214-861-2371
I did not know Meaghan, but I knew James... Meaghan, however, was close to my best friend. Meaghan may you rest in peace. James, I hope you rot in hell for what you have done to Meaghan and what you have done to others. I only hope Meaghan's family and friends can gain closure from James's arrest and incarceration for what he has done. He is a terrible person and deserves what is coming for him. This is only the tip of the iceberg for him..
I rode horses and competed against Meaghan. We were friends at horse shows and she always seemed happy. To the Bosch family, May God bless your family and friends at this hard time in your life. May God rest Meaghan's soul and shine light in your lives. May you understand and rest assured that as a believer in Christ, all sins are forgiven at the time of accepting Christ in your life - you become saved. Life on earth only shows our struggles, addictions and sins - but remember that every sin is equal whether you praise your Lord with your mouth that uses His name in vain, or a time like this happens. God does not look upon one sin being greater than another, but He looks at the plan that He has set for you. Eventhough Meaghan's body has left this place on earth, she will be living eternity with the Lord. God bless her family, friends and anyone else who crossed paths with her. She will always be beautiful and a sweet girl and she is touching all of our lives by teaching us a very important lesson. May you all feel peace through this time of loss. She will be waiting for you in heaven... God Bless
I knew Meaghan from an English course at SMU. My deepest sympathies go out to her family. Although I didn't know her well, she was a kind, beautiful person. Please leave her family to grieve. The last thing that they need at this moment in time is to defend their daughter/niece/sister.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Bosch family. Maybe we should quit trying to find some sort of insightful and malicious angle that seems hidden and just look at something for what it is. A tradgedy. A LOCAL tradgedy involving mysterious circumstances, drugs and a college student about to graduate. I whole heartedly agree that the media is absolutely disgusting and pitiful in it's overwhelming efforts to sensationalize and find an angle that paints the most dramatic picture. However, in this case the media attention was going to happen regardless. It's local and it involves one of the two local colleges with the biggest names. Not only that, but the whole world revolves around the 18-34 age demographic, especially females. Get used to it. It's not going to change any time soon. If the missing girl was a minority who grew up relatively poor, but earned an academic scholarship to SMU this story would be TWICE as publicized. Someone that was making their way on their own through intelligence and hard work threw it away? Oh no! It's a tragedy, and obviously so is Meaghan Bosch's death. Everything has an angle. Each tragedy is a tragedy for a different reason. Unfortunately for Meaghan and her family her tragedy is the most local and recent. Even more unfortunate is the fact that soon another one will pop up and overshadow her's in the media. It's sick, but it's the way of the media, race and income just become a part of their recipe. They just decide how to mix it up to deliver it to their taste. I haven't watched national news recently to see if this story is being blasted all over, but the bottom line is that in D/FW Meaghan's story was going to be told and heavily covered by the media regardless of race or income. College students that die right before graduation will ALWAYS be of particular concern to the public. They're viewed as someone struck down just as they were about to embark on the stage of their life where they were to make their biggest contribution to society. When you add in the circumstances of where and how she was found and the events leading up to her death. That's actually just news that people don't want to hear but want to know about if it happens.
My regrets to the Bosch family, my prayers are with them during this time. Anonymous II- I think you make a great point but these drugs are EVERYWHERE, not just SMU. Cocaine just happens to be the drug of choice for the "upper middle class" simply because of it's availability and much higher price point. Saddly, even the kids at Hockaday (private college prep school among the most elite in Dallas) are not wasting their time with cheap drugs, they have had more problems with cocaine and heroine use among their highschool girls than any public highschool in the metroplex. Not to say that there isn't an equal amount of drug use at other schools but the potency, addiction and danger level of those drugs are much lower than the more costly, harder to obtain party favors. This is a problem that need not be blamed on SMU, it needs to be addressed on a national level. SMU is one very small entity that is not capable of babysitting their students. I think it is relevant to note that Meaghan's drug use started in her PUBLIC high school. College at SMU was not her first introduction to cocaine.
Chris, why are you using this as a chance to take a shot at contemporary media. Choose a time and place pal. Evidently you were just looking for a reason. Weak.
At what point does SMU start taking measures to address its student body's rampant cocaine abuse? I mean, surely SMU can't be held accountable for the behavior of the entire student body. But, to my knowledge, SMU has never made any significant steps to address this problem head on. Rather, it seems to simply bury its head in the sand.
Dear Meaghan's Aunt- I want to express my deepest sympathies for the loss of your beautiful neice. I was so disturbed when I learned of Meaghan's disappearance and even more so when I learned of her tragic death. I live in Meaghan's condominium complex and saw the flyers a few days ago. I said little prayers in hopes that she would be found alive. I just got home and noticed the flyers were taken down so I googled her name...I didn't know Meaghan, I only saw her from time to time but my heart goes out to your family. My thoughts and prayers are still with you. If I can be of any assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me.
I went to high school with Meaghan and also am friends with family of Natalie Holloway. For all of you discussing media bias I wanted to say that yes, there is injustice in this world. There are people who are left out, ignored, and not remembered. That is wrong and upsetting. However, Meaghan and Natalie are just as important and rather than attack their families by public means (because when you belittle their death you are attacking their whole family) you could find another way to discuss the matter of media injustice. I traveled to Africa and saw a lot more injustice than you can ever imagine. At the end of the day, there is not much one can do. You can show however show love and respect to those around you. I am sorry for those who went missing and were not recognized. I am sorry for what happened to Meaghan and what brought her to this point. I knew her as a friendly, caring person and that is the way I am going to remember her. And no, you cannot understand depression until you have endured it. It is overwhelming and powerful. My heart goes out to her family and friends new and old.
I met Meaghan 4 days before she disappeared. She was a great person, and will be missed dearly. Although drugs were involved(welcome to SMU)...something is just not right. Hopefully everything is figured out.
Right wrong, insensitive or not, Mr. Danger was hardly off base with the mention of color/class and the correlating amount of media coverage it receives. It's no secret. It's been this way for decades and it's pretty sad, really. At the end of the day it's hard to sympathize with people who have so much and throw it away to drugs. Much as the same that it's hard to sympathize with people like Josh Hancock.
>Lotsa Beavers says: >leave it to Phonda Beavers to make salient points on >depression and enabling drug use. >well played. LOL My long lost and homeless sister. She's just pissed because I headed the intervention. Tuff love can be hard on everybody.
Thanks for all the support, for those of you who gave it. HG, out of respect for my brother, I'd rather not talk about her personal details -- I hope you understand. We'll be flying cross-country to be with the family. I can't explain the devestation properly so I just hope none of you have to go through this. And Lindsay - I think you're right. I'm a journalist myself and press releases get my attention first. Take this as a lesson I guess -- if you need media attention call the major stations directly and get the word out. But the bottom line is that the media attention didn't save my niece.
I don't want to get too far into this issue, but it occurred to me that the amount of press given to a story might be correlated to the amount of press releases regarding it. In this case, a press release was sent out by SMU to a broad audience (which obviously - indirectly or directly - included both this blog and FrontBurner). I suspect the rich, white students of SMU (disclosure: I'm a staff member) have exponentially more public relations firepower to get the word out than less privileged/fortunate/lucky persons. I doubt the "media" (disclosure: I've written for both the <i>Observer</i> and <i>D Magazine</i>) makes conscious decisions to ignore tragedy based on race and/or class. This will sound inappropriately callous, but next time you find yourself in gruesome circumstances and no one is noticing, blame your PR agent.
First and fore most my condolences go out to Meaghan�s family and friends. Now for all of the other people on here� Does it really matter the circumstances? Whether she was black or white, rich or poor? Smart choices or wrong? This is a young lady that has lost her life at the age of 21! And for people to come on here with personal agenda and judge as if they are ones to hold high precedence, makes me truly sick. So you feel the media has a certain bias to race or financial being. You are no different in bringing your own personal agenda towards the media in light of this girl�s death. Phonda Beavers how easy is it to depict a young girls troubles and wrong choices and say this could have easily been handled. And does anyone outside of her immediate family really need to know her medical history or what her family did or didn�t do? I just hope that such a tragedy doesn�t strike anyone of you. Because I can already tell that you�d be the ones to hold yourself as the exception. This is another young girl dead at such a young age. Did you hear me GIRL, YOUNG, DEAD! That is all that should be heard! Not what race she was. Or how much money her family had. Or whether she was give more TV time then the next. She is another number of many that have died at such a young age. The circumstances don�t mater! Because no one is going to try and help this dreadful world from becoming what it is set out to be. And that is a world of self absorbed, selfish, �why me� and �It everyone else�s fault but my own� type of people. I didn�t know her! But when I heard that she was found dead my heart sank a little deeper. And to read what so many of you have wrote makes me sick. My heart goes out to the family!
Meaghans Aunt I think that Mr. Danger may be making a reference to media coverage of abducted girls. It does seem to be out of balance sometimes, ie Natalie Holloway, Chandra Levy,etc. It is interesting how the media chooses who to make a media darling and who they choose to ignore. I would be interested in hearing from you about the depression that Ms. Bosch was suffering from. Was she on anti-depressants? What had the family done to deal with that? HD
leave it to Phonda Beavers to make salient points on depression and enabling drug use. well played.
Thanks for all the kind words and for the apology Mr. Danger. That means very much to me. Phonda Beavers -- obviously it was the drugs that ultimately caused her death -- she may have turned to drugs in an attempt to handle her depression. Drugs were a very poor choice, but please don't ever call me or anyone else an enabler because we talk about medical depression being the reason behind behavior. And if you don't understand what "depression" means - please do some serious medical research so you have a better understanding about how it can affect a person.
First and foremost, I want to apologize to the Bosch family. I understand that this is a very tough time and I regret if any of my comments were out of line. My prayers and sympathies go out to you in your time of mourning. Second, My main issue is the simple fact that stories of this nature almost always (>90%)involve women, and with how the media is in this country, usually white and coming from middle to upper class homes. I do take the modern media to task for the way that a good number of these stories are handled. They sensationalize it for the front page or the 10pm newscast and then dont seem to understand why people bring up complaints about the way things of this nature are handled. Before I continue, I must say that I am white myself and I come from a similar background, so all the complaints about calling racism are quite moot and without validation. My point is that I really think its time for us to look past the skin color and look at the persons going missing. They can be a parent, spouse, sibling or friend, I can speak from experience because one of my friends went missing around 10 years ago and still has not been found. I keep up the hope that they'll be found and her family clings to that hope as well....
All the comments made here show no colorblindness. There have been plenty of white girls who have claimed fake abductions and plenty of black girls who have died because of drugs and hanging out with drug dealers. To the Aunt: I'm sorry that this happened but you can't blame this on anything but the fact that Meaghan had a drug problem and liked to socialize with a known drug dealer (the news report says she had lunch with him). To blame "depression" is a cop out and pretty much an enabler attitude. She made a mistake and hung with the wrong crowd...it doesn't make what happened to her right...I'm NOT saying that. I hope that you and the rest of the family can think of the great person I'm sure she was. God Bless.
Thank you Mr. Bradley for you thoughtful comment. I would hate for others in my family to come across Mr. Danger's cruel comment in their search for information as I did, without reading your reply as well. Mr. Danger, take your own advice: Become colorblind and give credence to ALL who go missing in these situations.
Meaghan's Aunt, My sympathy and prayer for your entire family. I'm very sorry for your loss. I read this Psalm this morning, as I sat waiting for my two sons to get ready for school. Psalm 34:18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. I hope it is comforting to you. Blessings and Peace, bill
Chris Danger, once again someone comes along and throws out the Race, Income card. I remember 2 girls that went to a party and were afraid to come home. Came up with some dumb kidnap scam and they got PLENTY of media coverage. So please get off the racist bandwagon and have some compassion for the family of this poor girl. White, Black, Purple, whatever color she is doesn't matter. She is no longer with us, because of a drug! The same drug that takes many of our children, friends, family members. Use your ability to type, and to make comments and do something positive. Don't use it to bash the media with some unfounded accusations.
How dare you. I'm Meaghan's aunt and you have no idea what her family is going through, and will go through, while we try to come to grips with this. To trivialize our family's tragedy and her parent's grief just to take a dig at the media is thoughtless and heartless. Obviously - drugs create horrific situations for many people of many races, but to call a dear, sweet, troubled girl suffering from depression a "poor rich white girl" who did "stupid things" is just... well... I don't know what to call you. If you want to make a point, try doing it without cutting others down.
It seems to me the media likes to give alot of attention to the "poor rich white girls" who do stupid things and get either kidnapped, killed or both. We would'nt even see the local media, be it print,tv or web, covering this if she wasof another ethnicity or economic class. While short of calling racism, I think its time we become colorblind and give credence to all who go missing in these situations.