On April 11, 2004, Jared Dion was drinking with his buddies and fell into the Mississippi River, where he drowned. His blood alcohol level was 0.40 at the time of death.
La Crosse Drowning Victim .40 Blood-Alcohol Level
April 29, 2004
The final autopsy report on a UW-La Crosse student who was found dead in the Mississippi River in early April has been completed. Authorities say the cause of death of 21-year-old Jared Dion of Pewaukee is a freshwater drowning with alcohol intoxication as a contributing factor.
The La Crosse County Medical Examiner's office says the autopsy shows Dion's alcohol level at .40, which is five times the level considered legal intoxication. The legal level is .08. However, police say the manner of his death is undetermined. Friends said Dion vanished from the downtown area where he and others had been drinking.
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Autopsy: UW-L student drowned; no foul playBy DAN SPRINGER / La Crosse Tribune
For more than five days, the La Crosse community held out hope that Jared Dion would be found safe.
All hopes were dashed Thursday when the 21-year-old college student's body was pulled from the Mississippi River just south of Riverside Park.Dion, who became the seventh young man since 1997 to lose his life in the deep, dark water of the Mississippi off the shores of the city of La Crosse, died of a drowning, La Crosse County Medical Examiner John Steers said Thursday afternoon.
Steers accompanied Dion's body to Hastings, Minn., where an autopsy revealed Dion had a vitreous alcohol level of 0.27 percent. Dr. Lindsey Thomas, who conducted the autopsy, confirmed investigators' beliefs that foul play was not involved in Dion's death, Steers said.
"His death was consistent with cold water drowning," Steers said. "There were no signs of trauma or other injuries on his body. It was a classic textbook drowning." At an afternoon news conference called in part to quash rumors that Dion's death was no accident, La Crosse Police Chief Ed Kondracki said Dion's death is the latest in a long line of intoxicated college students losing their lives in the river.
Kondracki did his best to put an end to rumors that a killer had taken his seventh college-aged man's life since 1997.
Fielding questions from the media, Kondracki called Dion's death a tragic accident."There is no evidence of foul play. No evidence of any kind of altercation. No sign of a fight that took place. We found no evidence that Jared was being stalked. We found no one who had resentment toward him, was angry with him or anything like that," Kondracki said. "There was just no evidence he had any kind of altercation or contact with anyone after he was last seen."
Investigators concluded Thursday that a highly intoxicated Dion likely died when he accidentally fell into the river after he was separated from friends while trying to catch a bus after leaving a downtown bar around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, Kondracki said.
Dion was last seen leaving John's Bar. Instead of following his friends to the east, Dion entered Riverside Park where he eventually fell into the river.
Dion, who police Capt. Mitch Brohmer said was an average swimmer, likely tried to swim back to shore, but was probably pulled into the deep, cold water by the strong current, Kondracki said.
"The river is 18-feet deep right off the shore, and the current is very fast. Even a well-conditioned swimmer under the most ideal conditions would find it difficult to make it to shore in that water," Kondracki said.
Why Dion walked to the park will never be known, Kondracki said.
"It's hard for most anyone to know what it's like to function with a blood alcohol rate of any significance," Kondracki said.
Some in the community maintain that someone is to blame for the seven river deaths, but Kondracki said alcohol played a role in every one of the deaths.
"The common denominators in these past cases are excessive intoxication coupled with individuals venturing out onto or falling into the Mississippi, where the water is extremely deep and the current very fast," Kondracki said. "I am absolutely convinced that no crimes have been committed and these cases are extremely unfortunate mishaps."
Dion's body was found by the La Crosse Dive and Rescue Team and La Crosse Fire Department about 7:50 a.m. Thursday.
His body was found about 30 feet off shore and likely had not drifted far from where Dion fell in five days earlier, Brohmer said. The 21-year-old UW-L marketing student and wrestler was last seen at 2:30 a.m. Saturday, when some friends got on the Safe Ride bus to go back to campus, but Dion stayed behind.
He had made plans with his mother, who lives in Merton, Wis., to celebrate Easter in La Crosse, but failed to contact her or his girlfriend as expected Saturday. Dion's four roommates — one is his younger brother, Adam — confirmed he never came home after he and a group of friends went downtown about 11:30 p.m. Friday.
Family, friends and UW-L students had posted flyers and made buttons throughout the week, hoping someone had seen Dion. Searchers, including specially trained dogs, began concentrating on the Riverside Park area after a man had reported Wednesday finding Dion's Boston Red Sox cap in the park.
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In all cases, my deepest condolences to family and friends.
Underage Alcohol Deaths 2004
Underage Alcohol Deaths 2005
Underage Alcohol Deaths 2006
Signs of Alcohol Poisoning
Alcohol
depresses nerves that control involuntary actions such as breathing,
the heartbeat and the gag reflex that prevents choking. A fatal dose of
alcohol will eventually stop these functions. After the victim stops
drinking, the heart keeps beating, and the alcohol in the stomach
continues to enter the bloodstream and circulate through the system.
The victim may experience the following:
- Mental confusion, stupor, coma, unable to rouse the person
- No response to pinching the skin
- Vomiting while sleeping or unresponsive
- Seizures
- Slowed breathing (fewer than 8 breaths per minute)
- Irregular breathing (10 seconds or more between breaths)
- Hypothermia (low body temperature), bluish skin color, paleness
Alcohol Poisoning Requires Immediate Medical Attention
Alcohol Poisoning Cannot Be Reversed By:
- Drinking black coffee
- Taking a cold bath or shower
- Walking it off
The victim must have immediate medical attention.
Call 911, stay with the victim to prevent him choking on vomit, and tell emergency personnel how much alcohol the victim drank.
These Children Died of Alcohol Overdose, So Their Parents Started Foundations:
Taylor Webster's memorial foundation. Taylor died of alcohol poisoning at age 19-- Now his family and friends are working to get the message out, telling their stories and providing information on alcohol poisoning and the signs and symtoms of alcohol poisoning in hopes that lives will be saved.
Bradley McCue's memorial foundation. On November 5, 1998 Bradley turned 21. . He celebrated his birthday in a way that has become increasingly popular, drinking "his age in shots". That amount of alcohol was lethal and he died that night of alcohol poisoning.
Samantha Spady's memorial foundation. A 19-year old student at Colorado State University, Spady died of alcohol poisoning on September 5, 2004, "an unintentional tragedy." The Spadys say the SAM [Student Alcohol Management] Spady Foundation will develop peer-to-peer counseling and other services meant to reduce the risk of alcohol abuse.
Gordie Bailey's memorial foundation Mission: to provide today’s youth with the skills to navigate the dangers of alcohol, and through education and promotion of self worth prevent alcohol poisoning, binge drinking and hazing.
Kimberly Ostien's memorial foundation: "With binge drinking on the rise, we feel it necessary to get the message out on the danger of alcohol, especially excessive alcohol consumed in a short period of time. Students are educated on drugs and alcohol but they will continue to experiment no matter what. We want to educate on what to do when a friend falls down or passes out from drinking. Often we want to put that person to bed to sleep it off and that is when the trouble can begin." The card lists the information, above.
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Posted by: digital dissertations | Monday, December 29, 2008 at 09:47 PM