The 17-year-old Washington County, Md., youth whose decomposed body was found Monday in a pile of cardboard at a Rockville recycling company may have been drinking heavily with friends the night he was last seen, police said yesterday.
They also said that a preliminary autopsy report indicates that Joshua Lee Smith of Boonsboro was dead before his body was picked up by a truck that carried it, along with paper products for recycling, to Rockville.
Sgt. Randy Wilkinson of the Washington County sheriff's office said authorities believe that Smith's body was inside a trash bin for cardboard outside the Red Byrd restaurant in Keedyville when the bin was emptied between 4 and 5 a.m. Saturday morning and the contents were transported to Georgetown Paper Supply Co. in Rockville.
Wilkinson said Smith, who worked as a short-order cook at the restaurant, was last seen about 2 a.m. Saturday and that witnesses have told police that he had consumed a large amount of alcohol in a short period before he wandered away from a group of friends. Relatives reported him missing Sunday.
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Wilkinson said Smith's injuries "aren't consistent" with a homicide.
The cause of death was listed as "undetermined" after the preliminary autopsy. Police said their investigation is continuing.
Montgomery County Police spokesman Joyce Barrow said Smith may have suffocated. "We are following the possibility that he got into the dumpster on his own," Wilkinson said.
"The breaks on his body appeared after death," Wilkinson said. "He was probably dead when the truck compacted {its cardboard}."
Family members said yesterday they did not want to talk about Smith.
But neighbors remembered him as a youth with a plan for his life.
"He was always looking to do something to earn a little money," said Miriam Baker, who lives two houses away from Smith's North Main Street home. "He was always a good worker."
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Friends said that Smith, who worked two jobs so he could buy a new truck, attended Boonsboro High School, where he played football and wrestled.
After graduation, he planned to join the Marines, friends said.
Though Smith stood 5-foot-5 and weighed about 125 pounds, friends said his size didn't keep him from playing football, wrestling and working as a tree-trimmer at a Christmas tree farm in Boonsboro.
"He was tough as nails," said Gary Cline, owner of South Mountain Plantation, the Christmas tree farm.
"He had a lot of pride in the fact he could do this work as well as anyone," including co-workers twice his size, Cline said.
"He was one of those kids who was always bouncing off the walls," said Troy Bigelow, a friend and co-worker of Smith's.
At the Red Byrd, the only restaurant in Keedysville, manager Jeff Hoffman said Smith was active and often lightened the mood with a joke. "He was a little hyper, you had to move him around to keep him busy," Hoffman said.
"But that wasn't a bad thing," Hoffman said. "He just liked to keep busy and could get bored if there wasn't anything to do." CAPTION: Joshua Lee Smith had planned to join the Marines, friends say.
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