Parents: Purdue student's autopsy report holds no surprises

West Lafayette, Ind. - The parents of a Purdue University student who was shocked to death in a high-voltage campus utility room have obtained a copy of their son's autopsy report.

Wade Steffey's mother, Dawn Adams, said she and her husband received the document "two or three weeks ago." She declined to reveal its contents, which include a toxicology report.
"It pretty much told us what we thought we knew," Adams said Thursday.

Steffey, a 19-year-old Bloomington native, vanished Jan. 13 after witnesses saw him trying to enter Purdue's Owen Hall to retrieve his coat from the dormitory after a fraternity party.

He was found fatally shocked March 19 in a high-voltage utility room that officials said he had entered through an unlocked exterior door in an attempt to get into the dormitory.

The Tippecanoe County coroner's office has ruled his death an accidental electrocution.
The Journal & Courier has filed a request with the coroner's office for the full autopsy report under the Freedom of Information Act.

Jane Haan, a deputy coroner with Tippecanoe County, said Thursday the autopsy is not public information.

Adams referred requests for a copy of the autopsy to the family's lawyer, Scott Montross, who said he would have more information available about the report "a week from Monday."

Purdue's own investigation into Wade Steffey's death continues to move forward.

Rimkus Consulting Group Inc., a Houston-based firm that specializes in accident reconstruction, is assisting with that process.

Purdue spokeswoman Jeanne Norberg said she expects the company to report its findings to the university at the end of May or early June.

Steffey's parents have retained an attorney in anticipation of taking legal action.

Since the discovery of Steffey's body, Norberg said campus officials have put up warning signs for all high-voltage areas that previously did not have them.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)