ITHACA, N.Y. -- A coroner said Wednesday the Cornell University senior found dead in a fraternity house chimney died of suffocation, and his body went undetected for more than two days.
Tompkins County Medical Examiner Dr. John Maines said an autopsy showed 21-year-old Terrence Quinn died in the chimney sometime in the 24 hours after midnight Thursday, when he was last seen leaving an Ithaca bar.
His body was found at 8:45 p.m. Monday after Psi Upsilon fraternity members noticed clothing in a fireplace in their frat house.
Police have said Quinn was 'drinking heavily before his disappearance.'
Police found Quinn's body 10 feet down from the top of the chimney. The chimney was dismantled to allow authorities to remove the body.
Quinn was a member of another fraternity, Sigma Alpha Mu.
Cornell spokeswoman Linda Grace-Kobas said it was possible Quinn tried to enter the frat house through the chimney as a prank and gotten stuck.
But she said until more was known, officials would not speculate on why he was in the chimney. 'We really wish we knew the answers,' she said.
Maines said his provisional finding was that Quinn died of positional asphyxia. 'He was in such a position that he could not breathe,' Maines said.
He said the native of Medford, Mass., died 'sometime within 24 hours of his accident,' which occurred 'around 12:30 or so on the night he disappeared.'
Grace-Kobas said Quinn was first reported missing to Ithaca police Saturday afternoon by members of Sigma Alpha Mu.
She said the incident had 'saddened the entire university.'
Psi Upsilon, Sigma Alha Mu and the Cornell administration issued statements of sympathy for Quinn's family.
'We cherish the time we have spent with Terry and will never forget his contagious smile,' Sigma Alpha Mu said. 'Our hearts go out to Terry's family.'
Police had no comment beyond the medical examiner's report.
