14-Year-Old Noah Donahoe Undressed During Bike Ride, Later Found Dead in Storm Drain

Noah Donohoe lived his best life as a 14-year-old in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The musically inclined teenager excelled in math and science and loved playing soccer with friends. Teachers described Noah as a “perfect gentleman” with the “heart of a lion” by his school principal.

On June 21, 2020, Noah packed his backpack with books and his laptop and headed off on his bicycle to meet friends to work on a school project. He never arrived.

Around 5:50 p.m. just a few minutes after Noah left his home, he was captured on surveillance on Royal Avenue without his backpack. It’s unclear what caused him to separate from his backpack.

Noah crashed his bike 10 minutes later at 6 p.m. A bus driver saw the spill and rushed over to help Noah, but he had ridden off before he got to him.

Minutes later, Noah is seen on Northwood Road without his clothes or bicycle helmet. Locals found his shoes, hoodie, and helmet along the roadside. His t-shirt, underwear, and shorts were never found.

Two people saw Noah riding his bike in a nearby cul-de-sac, although by 6:30 p.m., he was spotted walking naked without his bicycle walking alongside a house.

Footage showing Noah’s journey stops there.

By 9:30 p.m. when Noah failed to return home, his mother filed a report with the police.

A day later, a woman reported Noah’s bike lying at the bottom of her driveway on the cul-de-sac where he was last seen walking. Police searched the woman’s home and a nearby drain but came up empty-handed.

Searching the area, authorities found Noah’s clothing and cell phone at a park on Northwood Road.

Police speculated that Noah hit his head when he fell off his bike, resulting in a brain injury. Disorientated, he undressed and wandered off.

Noah’s family was skeptical of this theory.

The same day, resident Daryl Paul tried to pawn Noah’s laptop. The shop owner called the police. Police later learned that he tried selling the device the prior night at a party.

When police arrested Paul, they found Noah’s backpack and books. He told police he located the items on Royal Avenue lying against a building.

Paul was sentenced to three months for stealing Noah’s items and attempting to pawn the laptop. He was ruled out as a suspect in Noah’s disappearance after police found CCTV footage of him in another area when Noah disappeared.

Six days after his disappearance, police announced they had found the body of Noah Donohoe in a storm drain behind Northwood Road.  Police believe he had been in the storm drain the entire six days. An autopsy determined Noah died by drowning. 

Police recovered a photo of a hand on Noah’s phone that appeared to have been taken after he abandoned it. Unusual Google searches and social media activity also alarmed authorities. Noah had been messaging an account he believed was run by Jordan Peterson, the controversial psychologist.  He had also researched religious topics like “Sodom and Gomorrah” and had sought advice on how to ward off Satan.

Were these searches of a bored teen, or was Noah suffering from a mental health crisis when he went missing?

Did Noah sustain a head injury like police theorize, leading to confusion and disorientation that led him to the water to drown?

Or was something more sinister to blame for Noah’s death?

Some theorize that foul play could be responsible. Weeks before Noah disappeared, a 15-year-old teen was attacked in a religiously motivated attack. Could a group of people have forced Noah into the drain after robbing him of his belongings?