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Student death shocks UW campus
Monday,
February 9, 2009,
3:14 PM
by Matt
Lehman, WSAU
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UW-Stevens
Point is mourning a student who died over the weekend.
Nineteen-year-old Andy Woods of Fredonia died early Saturday - an hour after
someone found him unresponsive in his residence hall.
Campus
spokesman Stephen Ward says the university's thoughts are with the family and
friends, and they're doing all they can to support them. Ward says the death has
affected everyone.
Professional counselors are helping students grieve. Ward says those efforts
started this weekend and will continue for as long as necessary.
The
Portage County coroner said Woods had been drinking the night before, but it
could be three months before toxicology tests reveal exactly how Woods died.
Woods'
funeral is Thursday night near West Bend.
Cause
of death for former Random Lake H.S. student at UWSP still undetermined
Funeral service scheduled for Thursday
Sheboygan Press staff
February
9, 2009
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The Portage
County Coroner’s Office said Monday that the cause and manner of the death of
Random Lake High School graduate Andrew Woods this weekend will not be
determined until all studies are completed and reviewed.
An autopsy was
completed by the coroner’s office on Saturday, and a number of studies including
full toxicology exam are still being conducted, according to a press release
from Portage County Coroner Scott Rifleman.
Toxicology findings are expected to take three to four weeks and pathology
studies up to three months.
The release stated trauma was not a factor in the death and foul play has been
ruled out. Alcohol was consumed the night before, but has not been determined to
be a primary cause of death at this point, the release said.
Woods, a Fredonia native and 19-year-old freshman at the University of
Wisconsin-Stevens Point, was pronounced dead at 2:22 a.m. Saturday at Saint
Michael’s Hospital. He’d been found unresponsive in Thompson Hall, a UWSP
residence hall.
Woods graduated from Random Lake High School in 2008. District Superintendent
Tom Malmstadt said Woods played soccer for the school and was known as a “good
student.”
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of one of our students,” Malmstadt
said. “He’s going to be missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family as
they go through this difficult time.”
The funeral
service for Woods has been scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12.
It will be held at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in West Bend. Visitation will be
from 4 p.m. until the time of service.
Coroner:
Dead freshmen had no visible injuries
Associated
Press
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February
9, 2009
STEVENS
POINT, Wis. - A University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point student found in a dorm
stairway had no visible injuries but was drinking before he died, Portage County
Coroner Scott Rifleman said Monday.
The cause
of 19-year-old Andrew Woods' death won't be known until complete toxicology and
microscopic pathology studies are done, Rifleman said. That could take up to
three months.
"Trauma
was not a factor in the death, and foul play has been ruled out," Rifleman said.
"We know if he did fall down steps, he certainly did not hurt himself in any
way."
The
freshman from Fredonia was found unresponsive on a second-floor stairway landing
in Thomson Hall about 1 a.m. Saturday, said Bob Tomlinson, vice chancellor of
student affairs. Woods was pronounced dead at a Stevens Point hospital about an
hour later.
Woods, a
student in the university's College of Natural Resources, lived on dorm's fourth
floor. He attended a party Friday night and was seen entering the dorm about
12:50 a.m. Saturday, Tomlinson said. A student using the stairway to pick up a
pizza delivery found Woods on the second-floor landing about 10 minutes later.
An autopsy
determined Woods had consumed alcohol before his death, but it "has not been
determined to be a primary cause of death at this point," Rifleman said. The
autopsy found no indication of other drug use, he said.
Woods
graduated from Random Lake High School in southeast Wisconsin.
© 2009
Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
Monday, April 13, 2009, 4:23 PM
by Matt Lehman, WSAU
The Portage County coroner has closed his investigation into
how a UW-Stevens Point freshman died in February.
Coroner Scott Rifleman says 19-year-old Andy Woods died of
natural causes, which appeared to be the result of heart problems.
Someone found Woods unresponsive in a dorm hall stairway
landing February 7th. Rifleman said the death was caused by a pre-existing
condition.
Rifleman said Woods had been drinking the night before, but
that's not what killed him. He says the toxicology showed only insignificant
levels of alcohol and no other drugs.
The Fredonia native was pursuing a degree in the College of
Natural Resources when he died.
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