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Joelle Dorsey hadn’t heard from her son for a couple days, and according to employees at Campus Village, she began to worry. Staff tried to contact Taylor Dorsey, a 21-year-old CCD student and resident of the dormitory, repeatedly, but failed to connect with him.
According to a statement given to Officer Antonio Milow, the first on the scene, Joelle drove to campus from Silt, Colo., a small mountain town near Vail, where Taylor grew up and Joelle still lives, after calls to her son went unanswered.
With the help of a Campus Village employee, Taylor’s door was unlocked and they entered the room and found him unresponsive. At 6:40 p.m. on Nov. 5, Taylor Dorsey was pronounced dead by one of the paramedics called to the scene.
The cause of death has not yet been determined, according to the coroner’s office, which is still waiting on a toxicology report. Those results are due within the next few weeks.
According to Officer Milow’s report, there was no evidence of drugs found in the room—but an overdose has not been ruled out as the cause of death.
In the case of an overdose, Campus Village employees have said that tracking down where Dorsey may have accessed the drugs would be a complex process.
“As far as I know, his group of friends were not connected to Campus Village,” said one of the employees who dealt with the situation on Nov. 5. She asked that her name be withheld.
She said she knew Dorsey only in a professional capacity.
“I worked with him a few times when I was at the front desk,” she said. “But my thoughts are with Taylor’s family and the other members of the community here.”
Bob Hetherington, Campus Village’s spokesman, said that there is already an effort underway to provide dorm residents and Dorsey’s classmates with some emotional support.
“We are working with university officials to make some grief counseling available,” said Hetherington. “We’re grateful for the cooperation from the university and health professionals for facilitating group and individual counseling sessions.”
UC Denver’s Office of Community Standards and Wellness, located in Tivoli 259, also provides resources for grieving students.
According to Jill Creighton, the office’s coordinator, students who visit the office will be “referred to the Counseling Center or the Community Resources Center, depending on the individual needs of the student.”
A memorial service for Taylor Dorsey will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14, at Cactus Elementary (222 Grand Ave) in Silt.
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