LANSING, Mich. (WWJ) – The Ingham County Medical Examiner's office has ruled Brendan Santo's death an accidental drowning.
Santo disappeared while visiting friends on the campus of Michigan State University before the football game against Michigan the last weekend of October.
The 18-year-old Rochester Hills native and Grand Valley State University student had been missing for nearly three months before a private investigator found his body in the Red Cedar River.
The medical examiner says Santo’s blood alcohol level was .22, nearly three times the legal limit. Alcohol intoxication was a contributing factor in Santo’s death, the medical examiner’s office said.
Police, private investigators, friends and family members searched for Santo’s body for nearly three months. His body was found in the river about a half mile from where he was last seen.
Family members started a petition to make the area near the Red Cedar River safer, saying there is a 5-6-foot opening near Yakeley Hall on Beal Street that leads to a steep drop down to the river.
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