REGIONAL- The Sept. 10 death of Keith Roy, 43, of Orr, has been ruled an accidental drowning, according to information provided to the Timberjay by St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office Supervising Deputy Nathan Skelton this week.
“My investigators have completed their investigation and the final ME (medical examiner’s) report has been received by our office. The matter has been ruled an accidental death by drowning,” Skelton said. “The subsequent follow up investigation found no evidence of foul play and there was no evidence of any type of traumatic injuries to Mr. Roy, supporting the ME report’s findings.”
While Skelton could divulge the overall finding of the autopsy report, specific details cannot be released to the general public under Minnesota law.
However, Skelton was able to provide some additional details discovered by investigators through witness statements and interviews, information that was not part of the initial sheriff’s office press release on Sept. 11.
According to Skelton, on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 10, Roy and an unidentified partner left the Orr Muni at 8:55 a.m. and drove directly to the Vermilion River Tavern near Buyck to purchase alcoholic beverages. They then drove to the Vermilion River access point at the Gold Mine Resort, about three miles upstream from Vermilion Falls and five-and-a-half miles southwest of Crane Lake.
Skelton said that Roy and the partner were in a canoe together when Roy “intentionally flipped the canoe,” according to the partner. Skelton did not provide any additional context indicating why Roy might have intentionally done so other than to say that “Intoxication was the driving factor.”
“The partner was picked up by another group,” Skelton said. “The partner swam to the other group’s boat and was given a ride back to the landing. That group stated Roy was in his swamped canoe bailing the excess water out when they left him. Roy’s canoe was discovered overturned by another ricing group later on.”
As initially reported in the Timberjay, authorities were notified of the discovery at 1:26 p.m. and rescue crews were dispatched at that time. St. Louis Sheriff’s deputies, the St. Louis County Rescue Squad, and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement personnel searched the river until midnight, then recommenced their efforts Sunday morning. At about 4 p.m., the St. Louis County Rescue Squad located Roy’s body floating in the river channel.