Mother's Fatal Fall From East Dallas Parking Garage Puzzles Police, Relatives

Thanksgiving was a time of dual celebrations for Richard Gruwell and Angela Norris. Their daughter Taylor was born on the holiday 27 years ago."Everyone was cooking, and I got to go to the hospital and have hamburgers and french fries for Thanksgiving dinner that day," Norris said.But this holiday will be a time for sorrow — and questions — for Taylor Gruwell's family. She died Sept. 23 after a fall from a parking garage in Old East Dallas.Authorities are still trying to figure out whether anyone should be held responsible for her death.Surveillance video showed her driving to the top floor of the garage with a man, who drove back down without her.“It is unclear if ... [she] jumped from the top of the parking garage or if she was pushed,” the medical examiner’s office wrote in her autopsy report, adding that Gruwell didn’t have a documented history of contemplating or attempting suicide. Video may offer cluesIt's unclear why Gruwell was in the garage at the posh Icon at Ross apartments near Central Expressway and Woodall Rodgers Freeway the night she died.Surveillance video police released last week shows Gruwell and the man holding hands in the parking garage before they drove up to the fifth floor.Officers were called to the garage about 11:20 p.m. after a passerby found Gruwell's body on the ground. She was pronounced dead 15 minutes later at Parkland Memorial Hospital.The News is not identifying the man Gruwell was last seen with because he has not been accused of a crime. He could not be reached for comment.Contacted by phone Tuesday, his mother said he is not responsible for Gruwell's death."I do care, we all care, that Taylor passed away, but my son wasn't with her when that happened, and I don't know what to say," she said.WFAA-TV (Channel 8) reported the man has refused to meet detectives or unlock his cellphone for them.He reportedly said in a written statement to police that he left Gruwell and his dog in the garage to visit a friend. He said that she was missing when he returned and that he walked around with his dog to look for her.Investigators didn't see any sign of a dog in surveillance video, WFAA reported.  Continue reading...