Officials say Kirts was not murdered

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Officials have no reason to believe foul play was involved in the death of a Crawfordsville man west of Greencastle this summer.

Detective Sgt. Pat McFadden of the Putnam County Sheriff's Department told the Banner Graphic Tuesday the death of Tyler Kirts, 25, was not a murder.

"It is not a homicide," McFadden said. "We don't have any evidence whatsoever to lead us in the direction of homicide."

Kirts' body was found on Aug. 8 in a grassy area behind the main work zone of Refuse Handling at 525 W. Columbia St. He had likely been dead for 10 days, according to entomology reports.

McFadden said the last sighting of Kirts was also 10 days earlier on July 28. A Greencastle Police officer saw him walking on Albin Pond Road between 9 and 9:30 a.m. that day.

An anthropology report helped investigators rule out homicide, as the body showed no signs of any form of trauma.

"The bottom line is there's no trauma to the body -- no blunt force, no sharp force," McFadden said.

With officials saying what did not cause Kirts' death, the question remains of exactly what did.

McFadden said toxicology reports will likely reveal very little considering the condition of the body at the time of discovery. The amount of time coupled with a record run of 90-degree days left it badly decomposed.

The final word on cause of death will come from the coroner's office, but Coroner Thomas Miller still awaits the final autopsy report.

"The autopsy did not show any foul play but the exact cause of death I do not know yet," he said.

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  • The fact that his friend, common-law stepbrother, roommate, and partner in crime Jeremy Gibson was murdered a few weeks earlier should be considered. Just saying.

    -- Posted by Clovertucky on Wed, Oct 12, 2011, at 11:49 AM
  • its just a lot easier for them to say that he overdosed. there is a lot less paperwork and a lot less trouble. we all know what really happened. there is too much evidence that states otherwise....

    -- Posted by amberdawn123 on Sun, Oct 30, 2011, at 7:42 AM
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