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The body that was found in a creek in Louisville, Tennessee, on Monday, February 5, has been identified as 20-year-old Crown College student Blake Smith. Smith, who was identified on Tuesday, February 6, went missing over the weekend.
According to reports, an autopsy performed Tuesday at the Knox County Regional Forensic Center determined Smith’s preliminary cause of death to be “hypothermia/drowning” and that his death appears to be accidental.
While the Blount County Sheriff’s Office released a statement, spokeswoman Marian O’Briant did not immediately return calls from the Knoxville News Sentinel seeking comment on how the death was deemed accidental.
Smith went missing on Saturday, February 3 and was found the following Monday.
via Knoxville News Sentinel:
Smith, 20, an aspiring pastor from Trussville, Alabama, was reported missing Sunday after he failed to return to his dorm at Crown College in Powell on Saturday night. Smith was reportedly last seen Saturday afternoon. He left work at Weed Man Lawn Care and stopped at his dorm before leaving, according to his parents, Jim and Kim Smith.
The Smiths said they used a photo their son posted to Instagram on Saturday afternoon to identify Admiral Farragut Park in Knoxville as his last known location. Blake Smith loved to hike and often took scenic photos, his father said. On Sunday, Smith’s car was found wrecked at a construction site off East Old Topside Road in Louisville, roughly 7½ miles from the park.
The car had crashed into the deck of a home that is under construction, the Blount County Sheriff’s Office said. Authorities found Smith’s cell phone and other personal belongings at the site. A team of police dogs searched the area but did not find Smith.
The family has reportedly not made memorial arrangements at this time. Crown College, which enrolls about 500 students, held prayer vigils on Sunday and Monday for Smith.