Man with Down Syndrome Who Died in Police Custody Idolized Law Enforcement

Robert Ethan Saylor

FREDERICK, Md. -- Fascinated with law enforcement, Robert Ethan Saylor would sometimes call 911 just to ask the dispatchers a question. He loved talking to police officers and was a loyal follower of the TV show “NCIS.”
Now, his death at age 26 is the subject of a criminal investigation that has left those who knew him in his Frederick County community and those who didn’t around the country wondering: How did a young man with Down syndrome die in an encounter with the very people he idolized?