Family, worker raise questions on death

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WIVB) - There are many unanswered questions after the body of a football fan was found in a creek outside Ralph Wilson Stadium after last Thursday's night game against the Miami Dolphins.

David Gerken, Jr., 26, was found dead in a wooded area near the stadium, hours after he was ejected from the stadium by security. The man's parents want precise answers why their son was ejected from the Bill's game.

Before being thrown out, Gerken had used the bathroom during the game. Afterwards, he called his brother to say he had been ejected from the game and agreed to meet at Tailgaters, a nearby bar.

However, his friends and family never met him there and Gerken's body was later found in Smokes Creek, near the stadium, at the bottom of a ravine.  The discovery was made by his father, who had come to Orchard Park from the Rochester area to search for his missing son.

MORE | News 4 was on the scene as Gerken's body was located in Smokes Creek in Orchard Park

"We don't really think any foul play was involved, okay. We definitely have no reason to believe there was foul play," his father David Gerken, Sr. said.

Gerken Sr. says he has not heard directly from the Bills with an exact explanation why their son was ejected from the game. In a statement, the Bills organization said, "We can confirm that the individual was ejected from the game for violating the Fan Code of Conduct."

Gerken Sr. wants the BIlls to release more information such as what the violation was and were procedures properly followed?  "Reason for eviction. I [would] like to know if they did follow procedures correctly," he explained.

The lack of eviction information given to the family also bothers an individual who works for one of the security companies for the Bills.

The security employee told News 4 there should be written evidence of all the circumstances involved in Gerken's eviction.  Gerken's ticket should have been taken away from him and an incident card filled out, including reasons for eviction. The ticket is then supposed to be attached to the report.

"If he was properly ejected, there would be a paper trail. Somebody should have known that he left. Family or friends, whoever he was with should have been notified that he was removed," the employee said, "Somebody's not coming up with the correct story. Somebody's not offering the information that they should be offering."

Gerken, Sr. added, "If something does need to change so that nobody else gets hurt, that's wonderful. That's all we ask for."

A wake for Gerken, Jr. will be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Johnson-Kennedy Funeral Home in Canandaigua. His funeral will be held at St. Mary's Church in Canandaigua at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.