A 19-year-old University of Michigan student whose body was found outdoors in subzero conditions in January died of hypothermia, and alcohol poisoning contributed to his death, according to the results of an autopsy released this week.
The death of Lucas Mattson was ruled accidental by Dr. Randy Tashjian at the Michigan Medicine Hospital Morgue, who wrote that Mattson “was exposed to prolonged cold environmental conditions while intoxicated.” His blood alcohol level was .156, according to the report.
The engineering student was found only wearing a short-sleeved shirt, pants, underwear, shoes, and socks. The autopsy was completed on March 8 and released on Tuesday.
Mattson was reported missing 15 hours after he was last seen on Jan. 23 in Ann Arbor without a coat, wearing a light-colored T-shirt, blue jeans, and white shoes, walking alone off campus. His body was recovered in the 1900 block of Cambridge Road around 12:05 p.m. the next day.
According to the autopsy, Mattson was discovered in a prone position adjacent to a home by a homeowner. He was dressed in a short-sleeved shirt, pants, underwear, shoes, and socks. Temperatures that day ranged from 15° Fahrenheit to decreasing to below 0° Fahrenheit by mid-morning, the report stated.
A nearly 20-hour search effort to locate Mattson included officers from the Ann Arbor Police Department and the University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security, as well as the UM Police Department Drone Unit.
In January, UM’s president directed a cabinet member and his top public safety official to retrace the events surrounding Mattson’s death.
UM president Domenico Grasso took the unusual step of emailing a letter on Jan. 26 to students and staff acknowledging Mattson’s death, saying he asked his vice president for student life and the executive director of public safety and security to review the circumstances to “better understand what transpired and identify possible steps to help prevent similar tragedies in the future.”
In the letter, Grasso disclosed that Mattson, an engineering student, was attending a party at a fraternity house as a guest — he was neither a member nor a pledge — before he left.
Ann Arbor police did not respond to a request for information on their investigation into Mattson’s death. UM spokeswoman Kay Jarvis did not respond to a request seeking an update on the university’s investigation.
The attorney for the Mattson has requested that the university and a campus fraternity preserve all evidence related to the student’s death.
Attorney Bobby Raitt of Ann Arbor-based Raitt Law said his office has opened an investigation into the death. The letter of preservation, sent to the university and both the local and national chapters of Delta Chi Fraternity on Jan. 31, will help ensure his firm has access to certain evidence related to Mattson’s death, he said.
Raitt said in the letter that he learned that Mattson was last seen walking alone near the 1700 block of Hill Street in Ann Arbor at about 1 a.m. on Jan. 23 after leaving a Delta Chi fraternity party located at 1705 Hill Street. Raitt said in the letter that Mattson, who is from Alaska, was given alcohol at the party, which he believed led to his death.
Raitt pointed to the Michigan Social Host Liability Law, which says a host cannot serve a minor alcohol and that a host could be held liable for any harm done by the minor to themselves or others while intoxicated.
The national chapter of the Delta Chi fraternity was not immediately able to respond to a request for comment. A message was left with the local chapter’s phone number as listed on the student organization’s website.
jchambers@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Alcohol poisoning contributed to UM student’s hypothermia death, autopsy finds
Reporting by Jennifer Chambers, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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