State pathologists concluded the body recovered from the Chestnut Hill Reservoir was Boston College student Franco Garcia, officials said on Thursday.
Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, said evidence collected so far does not suggest foul play. The fact that Garcia’s cash was still intact is not suggestive of robbery, though in itself does not prove anything.
“We keep an open mind, we foreclose no potential outcome, but what we’ve seen thus far does not suggest foul play,” Wark said. “We’re not going to rule out foul play at this early stage, but we do want to reassure the general public that it does not seem apparent here.”
The exam also ruled out broken bones and any other significant trauma to the body, Wark said.
The evidence developed thus far is consistent with an accident, but there is still an open investigation, he said.
“There is still hope that someone out there might have some tiny detail that would help us understand what brought Mr. Garcia to the reservoir, or if he was simply taking a short cut,” Wark said.
Pathologists are still working on toxicological tests, and the Suffolk County State Police Detective Unit is leading the death investigation, he said.
Wark said all the items a person normally carries were found on Garcia.
“We don’t know what’s not there, but we do know that the items that were there are the items a person would normally have on his or her person,” Wark said. “Wallet, cash, cell phone, things of that nature.”
Authorities discovered Garcia, a 21-year-old BC junior who had been missing since February, in the Chestnut Hill Reservoir after responding to a 911 call from a passerby who noticed something in the water Wednesday morning.
BC spokesman Jack Dunn said the discovery did not come as a surprise to members of the BC community, but rather confirmed what they all suspected.
“Franco’s many friends at Boston College are grieving his loss,” Dunn said. “He was a popular student, a gifted clarinetist and member of the marching and pep band at Boston College. He will be greatly missed by the entire university community.”
Wark said authorities have received a great deal of help and information from the community over the past seven weeks.
“We still urge anyone that might have some piece of information, no matter how small or insignificant it might seem, to contact state police or if they’re on campus to contact campus police,” he said.
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