Investigation into death of 19-year-old found in Adams Morgan continues

WASHINGTON - There are still unanswered questions Friday surrounding the death of 19-year-old Paul McGuinness. The Reston, Va., native was home for Christmas break from Virginia Commonwealth University. But the freshman student went missing Tuesday after night out in Adams Morgan in Washington D.C.

On Thursday, McGuinness' body was found inside a basement stairwell behind the Bossa Bistro and Lounge.

A rose and candle now mark the spot where a family friend found McGuinness. It is an area walled off from the back alley and not easily accessible unless you have a key to the door or if you walk down the back steps.

But how did he end up there?

"My son was with him, thought he was coming out of the bathroom, he never came out and he apparently went out the back stairs and fell," said McGuinness' uncle, Oray Nicolai, on Thursday after the 19-year-old's body was found.

The stairs he is referring to are the stairs that lead down from the upper level of Madam's Organ, a blues bar and restaurant on 18th Street. It was where McGuinness was apparently socializing with friends and relatives.

However, McGuinness is only 19 years old, so how did he get into the bar? The owner's son declined to comment saying he and his father needed more information before making a statement.

The bar was closed Thursday night after the body was found.

The medical examiner's office is conducting an autopsy and part of that investigation will determine if the teenager had alcohol in his system.

"It's the worst nightmare any parent could ever have," said Nicolai. "They had everyone in the world trying to help him and find him."

D.C. police have classified the case as a death investigation and will determine if McGuinness fell off the back stairs and railing like his family thinks he did.