A preliminary autopsy performed Wednesday afternoon indicated Abel Bolanos died from accidental drowning in Lake LaVerne in the early morning hours Saturday.

“Final determination of the cause and manner of death is pending the results of medical tests,” said ISU Police Cmdr. Gene Deisinger. “Those tests may take several weeks to complete.”

Whether alcohol was the contributing factor to Bolanos’ death is still under investigation. The ability to rule out inebriation and intoxication cannot come from the preliminary autopsy; however, police officials are conducting interviews to gather more information.

“We have interviewed people at the party and they have indicated that earlier in the night he was intoxicated,” Deisinger said.

Deisinger said exact blood-alcohol content levels are part of the medical tasks and will take a while to obtain.

Bolanos had previously been charged and pled guilty to public intoxication, but had not had any offenses since his sentencing date of Sept. 5, 2006.

Ames Police Cmdr. Jim Robinson was unavailable for comment regarding the details of Bolanos’ intoxication charge.

Officials are still in the process of investigating other aspects of Bolanos’ activities the night he went missing.

“Another cell phone was found with his body – whose that is we still need to check,” Deisinger said. “We’ve had his cell phone since Sunday afternoon – somebody else [at the party] had picked it up.”

Beside the swapped cell phones, police also suggested Bolanos did not have his keys on the night he wandered toward his dorm.

“I have been told that friends took the keys away so that he couldn’t drive earlier,” Deisinger said.

Investigative results also indicated there is a good chance Bolanos was in Lake LaVerne at the same time frame of the Polar Bear Plunge, a Greek Week tradition at Iowa State.

“Given the information available to us at this time, we believe that Mr. Bolanos accidentally drowned in the lake shortly after 4:30 a.m. [Saturday],” Deisinger said.

The medical examiner who conducted the autopsy, however, was unable to verify the length of time Bolanos’ body was in the lake before the discovery.

“I don’t think the medical examiner has been able to determine that,” Deisinger said. “That is based on more investigation results.”

Deisinger also emphasized there are no indications of foul play in Bolanos’ death. Witnesses who were with Bolanos the night he disappeared are continually being interviewed by officials and foul play is not suspected.

“I can’t say it is ruled out, [however] there is no indication of foul play or suspicious activity,” Deisinger said.

Bolanos’ body was discovered along the southeast side of Lake LaVerne around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and was removed around 6 p.m.

While students have united on campus to remember Bolanos, family members have begun making other arrangements.

“The immediate family are right now making plans to return to Chicago to begin making plans for his funeral,” said Dean of Students Dione Somerville. “We all deal with issues of grief in a variety of ways so [we do] whatever we can do for students to help them cope and provide an outlet for those feelings.”

Student Counseling Services is also available for students wishing to seek advice or help when dealing with the loss of Bolanos.

“Sometimes it is helpful for folks to hear how they can take care of themselves if they are feeling anxious or confused,” said Joyce Davidson, associate director of Student Counseling Services.

Davidson also suggested while mourning, students can take care of themselves by eating healthy, sleeping and connecting with people they care about.