Many at vigil suspect foul play; police noncommittal

More than 100 people attended a vigil for the late 32-year-old Henry McCabe at Rush Lake on Saturday morning, November 7. The atmosphere was somber as they cried, hugged, and consoled his widow, Kareen McCabe. Many had helped in the search for the Minnesota State auditor in Mounds View who went missing after he was dropped off at a Holiday station in Fridley at about 2:05 am on Labor Day, September 7.
McCabeâs body was found at about 4:20 pm November 2 partially submerged in the water on the east side of Rush Lake in New Brighton. At about 7:20 pm the Minnesota Community Policing Services (MNCPS) was dispatched to the location to observe the recovery of McCabeâs body.
At the vigil, family, friends and coworkers sang religious songs and prayed for McCabe. Most remembered him as a loving father, jovial, and always willing to help others. But how his body ended up in the lake, about seven miles from where he was dropped off, troubled many in the local African community who donât want his death to go unaddressed.
âWhat happened to my son? I want to know, in the name of Jesus,â said Esater Karmoh, McCabeâs mother, on a phone line from Liberia. âI want to tell everybody thank you [for helping in the search]⊠This is what they did to my son. Somebody killed my son.â

Karmoh told those gathered that she wants to come to Minnesota for the funeral, and community leaders are working on bringing her here. As songs and prayers were offered, many who brought flowers couldnât hold back their tears. There was moment of silence in his remembrance.
âHenry was not an isolated person in the middle of the dark. Henry had a life. Henry had a family, he had children, and he had a mother. Henry had brothers. Henry had friends,â said Pastor Marie Vah. âBefore Henry died, he was pleading to someone who dropped him in the dark⊠Henry paid for you to learn the lesson⊠When he got off from that car in that morning, he had no idea that he was going to dieâŠ
âI want you to go and tell Henryâs friends. Weâre not accusing them, but weâre disappointed in them,â said Van, noting that many Liberians didnât show up to request for justice for McCabe.
David Kesseh, a family friend, led mourners to the site on Rush Lake where McCabeâs body was reportedly dropped. Many placed flowers there and discussed the distance from where he was last seen to where he was found in the lake 55 days after his disappearance.

âBring your flowers,â said Seyon Nyanwleh, lead organizer and friend of the McCabe family. âHe canât [have driven] here all by himselfâ to a location that he pointed out is very isolated and dark after 6 pm. âThis is where they found our friend.â
âSomeone dropped him in the water,â said a tearful Liberian elder. âWhoever did this to Henry will pay for it.â The mourners agreed in unison.
Pastor Success Roberts led prayer at the site. âI want us to pray. I believe every one of us has specific questions. What happened to our brother, our son, to our father? âŠJehovah, give us the grace to go through such a dangerous and painful tragedy.â They left the site singing, âI woke up this morning with my eyes on Henry!â
âAt this moment, weâll leave all options open for the investigation⊠You canât expectâŠa father, a man with no bad record, to just come and find himself back there [in Rush Lake],â said Abubakarr Bundu, newly elected leader of Sierra Leoneâs APC-Minnesota Chapter, at the vigil. âLetâs keep praying that justice will prevail. Sierra Leone and Liberia are one. Whatever happens to one country [as represented in Minnesota] will affect the other⊠Weâll be with you âtil the end [in seeking justice].â
On the morning of November 3, when police informed Kareen McCabe of her husbandâs death after confirmation from the Ramsey County Medical Examinerâs Office, family members and friends gathered in their apartment to sympathize and console her. At the Rush Lake vigil, Kareen explained how she felt when the police knocked at her door in Mounds View.
âUntil the police walked to my door, I was certain he was alive. I want him to be!â cried Kareen, adding that it will be the first Thanksgiving and Christmas for her two children without their father.
A police statement released on November 3 states, âAt this time, the death does not appear to be suspicious, but the cause of death is still undetermined pending toxicology result.â This angered the Liberian community and family members. At the vigil, many asked how McCabe would have walked from a gas station in Fridley to be found dead in the Rush Lake waters in New Brighton.
âHe doesnât appear that he will come here [Rush Lake] on his own. It appears that someone has brought him to this location,â said David Singleton of the MNCPS on Monday afternoon. âIndividuals probably would have been aware of this location, or tracked it some type of way. It is not a location that you can get to easily just off the main street⊠Based on the evidence we have, we believe he was not brought here on his own free will.â
âThis case remains under investigation by the Mounds View Police Department, the New Brighton Police Department and Ramsey County Medical Examinerâs Office,â Chief of Police, Thomas Kinney stated on Monday. He thanked the numerous volunteers who helped in the search for McCabe.
âWe [Liberians] have a tradition. No grownup person will walk into that place and kill himself,â said Hon. Jackson George, Liberiaâs acting consul general in Minnesota, at the end of the vigil. âFrom the consulate and embassyâs point of view, weâre not going to close this case until justice is done.â
Issa A. Mansaray welcomes reader responses to info@theafricapaper.com.
Henry was a good man. I cannot believe he would take his own life. Something is just not right about this whole thing. Perhaps we will never know the truth. I miss my friend…
These disappearances happen quite a lot! I believe this is a supernatural event! Dave Paulides is a investorgator and I heard him talking about this case on George noory radio show