It was her one free weekend amid a hectic schedule juggling work and graduate school, and Anna Sowers spent it shopping for purses and jewelry with friends in downtown Chicago. But she couldn't reach her husband back in Baltimore, who had been out with friends in Canton the night before.
His cell phone went straight to voice mail. He didn't respond to text messages. She called friends and relatives at home. "Have you talked to Zach today? Because I haven't heard from him all day," Anna told her brother, who lives in Canton and had accompanied him on his night out. "Can you go to the house and see if he's there?"
It was Saturday, June 2, and Zachary Sowers had disappeared.
FOR THE RECORD - A photo caption that accompanied an article in yesterday's Sun incorrectly stated the length of time that Zachary Sowers, the victim of a beating near Patterson Park, has been in a coma. He has been in that state for more than two months.
The Sun regrets the error.
Anna had no way of knowing her new husband had been beaten into a coma just steps away from their rowhouse near Patterson Park. Police say the young men accused of the beating live nearby and stole his Timex watch and used his credit card to rent two action movies.
In a city seemingly accustomed to violence and death, the attack on Sowers stood out for its apparent randomness and viciousness. At 27, he is one of Baltimore's survivors, if only by a thread. A Web site launched by a friend keeps people informed of his condition and shows him in better days, and has gotten up to 3,000 hits a day.
The crime has galvanized a community. Tomorrow, more than 25 bars in Canton and Federal Hill have agreed to donate up to 20 percent of their proceeds to Sowers' recovery fund, events that are expected to attract candidates running for mayor in a year in which crime is a central issue.
"It was a case that needed attention," said Lt. Johnny Delgado, an 18-year veteran who oversaw the squad of detectives in the Southeastern District that handled the case and made four arrests - two adults and two juveniles who lived nearby. "To beat a guy to the point of death, for a watch and ten dollars? That to me was an indication that it was not going to end there. These guys were going to get bolder."
The immediate aftermath of the brutal attack was confusing and chaotic. In Chicago, Anna had no idea why her husband wasn't returning her calls. She grew increasingly frantic. The man she had met in high school in Frederick, grew close with over the years and finally married in Mexico in October, was predictable to a fault. He stayed connected to his new wife by cell phone. He was cautious about where he walked and where he went. He was responsible.
