Alabama College Student Drowned In Tennessee Creek, Per Autopsy

LOUISVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – An autopsy confirms the body recovered from a Tennessee creek is that of a missing college student from Alabama.

The Blount County Sheriff’s Office said in a release Tuesday that 20-year-old Blake Ryan Smith’s death appears accidental and was likely caused by hypothermia and drowning. Smith’s body was pulled from Georges Creek on Monday, less than a mile from the construction site where his wrecked car was found.

His aunt, Jill Brasher Williams, told The Tennessean the family believes Smith’s death was “foul play,” despite the preliminary ruling.

The family has said that his friends found the car still running, with a cinder block on the gas pedal.

The Trussville man was a student at The Crown College of the Bible outside Knoxville.

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