There is a “high probability” that LaBute was already dead when he went into the river, Franklin County Coroner Anahi Ortiz said Thursday.
The cause and manner of LaBute’s death remain under investigation, but police said they have labeled his death suspicious primarily because of the circumstances in which his body was found. Ortiz said further medical and toxicology tests are needed, a process can take several weeks.
"There is a high probability that he was dead prior to going in the river," Ortiz told The Columbus Dispatch. "We cannot determine that with 100 percent certainty."
There were no external traumatic injuries like gunshots or stab wounds, she said.
LaBute moved with his family from the Worthington area to Liberty Twp. while in high school. He graduated from Lakota East High School in 2007, according to a district official.
According to LaBute’s LinkedIn page, he graduated from Ohio State University in 2011, where he made the dean’s list in the spring of 2009 and earned a bachelor of science, human ecology.
He had been employed, according to the website, with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in the loan servicing department as a global currency specialist since April 2012.
During and after high school LaBute also worked at Kings Island as a merchandise location supervisor.
Columbus police said detectives with the missing persons unit spotted LaBute’s half-submerged body near a boat launch.
Police suspected early on that the body was that of LaBute, noting that the clothing fit the description of what he was reportedly wearing when he went missing. But the condition of the body made its immediate identification impossible.
LaBute was last seen at the Union Cafe in the Short North neighborhood of Columbus about 12:30 a.m. on March 5.
His car was found about a quarter-mile east of the Olentangy River, where he usually parked when visiting the area. That area feeds into the Scioto about a mile downstream. From the confluence of the two rivers, it is another two miles to the spot where LaBute’s body was found.
Police have said they don’t know where he entered the water.
Hundreds of volunteers had searched the Short North and Arena District at various points during the past month for clues about his disappearance. His family had gathered on the weekends to pass out fliers.
This article contains reporting from The Columbus Dispatch.
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