Jaws I

Teenage girl found dead at Amity Village beaches

The body of Christine W. Watson, a 17-year-old of  23 Sharkstooth St., Amity, has been found this morning on the Amity beach. The body has been severely mauled by an attacker of unknown origin; a shark attack cannot be completely ruled out.

The girl was last seen alive at a beach party she attended, the night before at about 11 p.m. Watson left around that time with a male, Christopher P. Hoggenbottam III, a sophomore at Trinity College and former resident of Amity. 

After Watson, who decided to go swimming at a remote section of South Beach, near the South Beach Shoal bell buoy, did not return, Hoggenbottam alerted the police at about 6 a.m. this morning, after which a search for the body began.

Thereupon, Watson’s mangled body was found washed up on the beach. Research continues to find out what caused her death. Her body has been transported to the coroner’s office for autopsy.

“Other Amity residents and visitors are not in danger,” Chief of Police Martin Brody said. “Though a shark attack has not been completely ruled out, our lovely beaches will remain open for swimming pending the outcome of the investigation.” 

Police investigators learnt from witnesses that both Hoggenbottam and Watson have drunk heavily at the beach party they both attended, and allegedly smoked marijuana.

Watson, a senior at Amity High School, was a member of her schools’ varsity swim team, and was a lifeguard at the Amity Island YMCA pool in Oak Bluffs.

The weather conditions during the time of Watsons disappearance were calm, with a 72 degrees F air temperature and a 65 degrees F water temperature. 

At a short press conference given by the Mayor of Amity, Larry Vaughan, Chief of Police Martin Brody, and the medical examiner who performed the autopsy, Robert Nevin, it became clear that the Mayor does consider the death of Watson an incident. “I am not planning to take any extra precautions to prevent a similar incident from happening at the 4^th of July,” he said.

Nevin, the medical examiner, seemed at times fairly certain of his results. “I think the mauling of Watson’s body was caused by a motorboat. I have seen many motorboat victims in my life, and this one looks just like all the others”, he said. When asked for commentary, the Mayor said, “We cannot protect everybody. I can’t prohibit swimming and I can’t prohibit motorboats, so if someone decides to go swimming in the middle of the night, we assume he or she will take the risks into account”. 

He went on saying an investigation was under way where all motorboat owners in Amity Harbour were questioned. “So far, though, nobody has been found that went out with a motorboat that late last night”.

Although this motorboat example seemed quite waterproof,  Nevin told journalists later in the press conference “to keep all options open,” regarding the cause of Watson’s death, saying there “ might have even been a murderer on that remote part of the island, who caused her death and then dumped her into the sea.”