The death of a military man found facedown in Bolin Creek in November was most likely not the result of foul play, based on a Chapel Hill Police Department investigation.
A jogger found Sgt. Shane Scott Pease, 24, unresponsive in Bolin Creek at around 9 a.m. on Nov. 19.
Although an autopsy report on Pease’s body has yet to be completed and released, Chapel Hill police say that they think Pease’s death was accidental.
“We can’t confirm the exact cause of death without the medical examiner’s report,” Chapel Hill Police spokesman Lt. Kevin Gunter said. “It appeared, from our investigation, that there was no (foul) play.”
“It’s obviously more than we’ve given in the past,” he said.
“It did appear that he had fallen in the creek, but again that was just based on our investigation.”
Pease was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division stationed at Fort Bragg.
Pease, who joined the Army in 2006 and had served tours in Iraq from March 2007 to October 2007 and then from December 2008 to November 2009, was posthumously promoted from a specialist to sergeant.
Christopher Owens, who said he is a longtime friend of Pease’s, said in an email in November that Pease was in town with friends that weekend. He said that he believed Pease had been drinking.
