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MEDIA RELEASE

Wednesday 02-08-06 4:00 PM
UPDATE: Cause of Death Gunton Case Town of Victory Northern Cayuga County
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sheriff Rob Outhouse reports that the Forensic Autopsy Summary Report has been completed by the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office. The Autopsy was completed this morning in Syracuse on the victim of a previously unexplained death case in the Northern Cayuga County Town of Victory.

The results of the preliminary report are as follows:
Manner of Death: Natural
Cause of Death: Acute Streptococcal Meningitis

The injuries sustained by the victim are likely to have been the result of the victim’s actions during the state of delirium from the effects of the infection of the brain.

Information discovered in the intensive investigation coupled with physical evidence collected at the scene support this effect.

Sheriff’s Deputies and Detectives were assisted by the NYSP Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Specialists as well as the Cayuga County District Attorney and advice of the Cayuga County Coroner.  

“This case is closed as a natural death attributed to this acute medical condition. The closure was made possible by the cooperative effort of all those involved. The special expertise of the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office was the valuable final piece that solved the puzzle of this otherwise unexplainable death. This type of meningitis is not contagious; however, the Cayuga County Health Department has been contacted and will continue case management and monitoring of all those involved”

Sheriff Rob Outhouse

Anyone with medical questions or information about this case may contact the Cayuga County Health Department at:
315-253-1560.