The McHenry County Coroner’s Office released their autopsy findings and a cause of death on Aidan Beckford, the missing Huntley teen who was found dead in Nunda Township last month.
McHenry County Interim Coroner John Miller said that Beckford died from inflammation and bleeding in his stomach and intestinal system, the Northwest Herald reported. Environmental hypothermia also contributed to his death.
The bleeding and inflammation that killed Beckford can occur when certain kinds of bacteria enter the body but coroner’s officials do not know how it developed in the teen, the Northwest Herald reported.
Miller said that Beckford had been dead for no more than 36 hours when his body was found and there were no traces of drugs or alcohol in his system.
The McHenry County Coroner’s Office said that Beckford also had several abrasions and a bruised lung, likely from when he jumped from the moving vehicle.
Beckford was found by a search dog around 1:30 p.m. September 8 near Nish Road and Highview Drive in Nunda Township, which is the intersection where he went missing.
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office said that Beckford, a Huntley resident, was reported missing around 11:30 p.m. August 30.
Extensive searches, with the help from search and rescue personnel, a dozen canines, firefighters, police officers, divers and the local community, had taken place for a week before he was found.
Beckford, who was reportedly depressed and not in a good mental state, had jumped out of a car during an argument with a family member, police said. He left the area without his cellphone or wallet on him and was not wearing any shoes, his family said.
Beckford’s father passed away three years ago and the area in Highview Estates where Beckford went missing was the last place his dad lived, his step mother told Lake and McHenry County Scanner.