Oct. 24--The grief-stricken mother of a computer software programmer who fell to his death from a moving car in Fall River early Saturday morning remembered her son as "happy" while awaiting answers on what happened to him.
State police Sgt. Michael Popovics said last night Clifford Whalen's death remained under investigation. Driver Patrick Boynton had not been charged.
Boynton, 26, of Somerset told the Herald yesterday he and Whalen lived together, but declined to discuss the tragedy. "We're all pretty devastated by this," he said.
State police reported Saturday that Boynton was at the wheel of a 1999 Infiniti QX4 on a ramp from Route 79 north to Route 6 west at about 2:20 a.m. when Whalen, riding in the front seat, "opened the passenger door and jumped out of the vehicle."
Christine Whalen, 56, of Tiverton, R.I., said her son suffered severe head trauma. "As a parent, you don't want to get that call at 3 a.m., but I did," she said.
She said her son, a Rhode Island native, worked for United Natural Foods in Providence. She said she last spoke with him Wednesday night, when he stopped by for dinner.
"He was happy, fine. Life was good," she said. "In fact, he was the happiest I'd seen him in years."
She said her son and Boynton had known each other less than a year, but she likes Boynton "very much."
Asked whether she had any idea how her son fell from the car, Christine Whalen said, "I have no clue. He was just amazing. He had a heart as big as the Grand Canyon."
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