Police find body believed to be Brendan Santo in Red Cedar River

https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/2022/01/21/rescue-teams-searching-red-cedar-river-missing-brendan-santo/6607008001/?fbclid=IwAR0mCU3i7VHbRRJdMX8IXI7hxYvOF75e_6vzqeupyjF5Dwf3P5ElKqcYems

Ugh...what an awful story.

hopefully his family can start to work toward finding some peace. I suspect words don't exist for what they've been going through since late October. Having to get through the holidays, trying to close their eyes every night without having any idea where their son is, what his last minutes must've been like.

just unimaginable.

thoughts with them, for sure.

I swear this happens ever 5-10 years...

Very sad.

AvgMSUJoe wrote:I swear this happens ever 5-10 years...

This happened once when I was a student at MSU. I can’t remember the student’s name but I distinctly remember waking up to a missing person’s flyer on my door on New Year’s morning.

Incredibly sad. I can’t imagine his parents sleeping much as he was missing. Now I can’t imagine them sleeping much because of the outcome. Like Bob already said, you just hope the family can start finding some kind of peace.

Unless they find evidence of foul play, probably won’t ever know what really happened. RIP.

autopsy: official cause of death was "accidental drowning", BAC of .22.

Grand Valley State student Brendon Santo, who disappeared during a fall visit to Michigan State University, died from accidental drowning in East Lansing's Red Cedar River, according to an autopsy conducted by the Ingham County medical examiner's office.

The 18-year-old student's body was found by police, with the help of a private investigator, on Jan. 21. Santo was last seen Oct. 29, 2021; he had been visiting Michigan State University for the weekend of the MSU-Michigan football game.

The report, provided by county officials Monday, noted alcohol intoxication — his blood alcohol content was 0.22 — as a contributing factor in the 18-year-old's death.

(.08 is legally drunk).

RIP to this young man and thoughts with his family.

Robert J Sakimano wrote:autopsy: official cause of death was "accidental drowning", BAC of .22.

Grand Valley State student Brendon Santo, who disappeared during a fall visit to Michigan State University, died from accidental drowning in East Lansing's Red Cedar River, according to an autopsy conducted by the Ingham County medical examiner's office.

The 18-year-old student's body was found by police, with the help of a private investigator, on Jan. 21. Santo was last seen Oct. 29, 2021; he had been visiting Michigan State University for the weekend of the MSU-Michigan football game.

The report, provided by county officials Monday, noted alcohol intoxication — his blood alcohol content was 0.22 — as a contributing factor in the 18-year-old's death.

(.08 is legally drunk).

RIP to this young man and thoughts with his family.

Very sad but not surprising. I wonder how they determined the BAC of a person months after his death

duffy munn wrote:

Robert J Sakimano wrote:autopsy: official cause of death was "accidental drowning", BAC of .22.




(.08 is legally drunk).

RIP to this young man and thoughts with his family.

Very sad but not surprising. I wonder how they determined the BAC of a person months after his death

I was wondering the same thing. Also, did the friends he was staying with report to the police that he was drunk?

I don’t know anything about science at all so consider this a guess but if you die your liver stops processing the booze so it doesn’t really go anywhere.

I dunno though I’m a huge idiot

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:I don’t know anything about science at all so consider this a guess but if you die your liver stops processing the booze so it doesn’t really go anywhere.

I dunno though I’m a huge idiot

Based on my many hours of watching Law & Order and other cop shows, I thought that stuff was destroyed in drowning cases. Maybe the cold water preserved things, plus your liver speculation and I def agree you’re a huge idiot.

tGreenWay wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:I don’t know anything about science at all so consider this a guess but if you die your liver stops processing the booze so it doesn’t really go anywhere.

I dunno though I’m a huge idiot

Based on my many hours of watching Law & Order and other cop shows, I thought that stuff was destroyed in drowning cases. Maybe the cold water preserved things, plus your liver speculation and I def agree you’re a huge idiot.

No he’s not. He’s in shape.

kingstonlake wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:


Based on my many hours of watching Law & Order and other cop shows, I thought that stuff was destroyed in drowning cases. Maybe the cold water preserved things, plus your liver speculation and I def agree you’re a huge idiot.

No he’s not. He’s in shape.

Travis says he’s a huge idiot. Who are you to place undue pressure on him to look good? Stop body shaming.

Walked on the ice a number of times (last time scared the shit outta me) but never been in the Red Cedar. Is it deep enough to drown in, excluding the 3 times the legal limit thing?

The Pantry wrote:Walked on the ice a number of times (last time scared the shit outta me) but never been in the Red Cedar.  Is it deep enough to drown in, excluding the 3 times the legal limit thing?

Drowning only takes a small amount of water. The RCR would’ve had plenty.
I’d be curious if there was any evidence of him falling. That’s a steep slope and it would’ve been tough to navigate with that much booze in his system. So maybe instead of walking on the ice and falling through, he fell down the slope and rolled into the water. Just idle speculation.

The Pantry wrote:Walked on the ice a number of times (last time scared the shit outta me) but never been in the Red Cedar. Is it deep enough to drown in, excluding the 3 times the legal limit thing?

I believe it is, at least in the area behind Shaw Hall. My buddy went in after a volleyball and I don't think he could touch. And I'd always heard that there are so many logs, bikes, and other shit at the bottom that it's really easy to get your foot caught on something if you go down to the bottom.

Note: the above mentioned buddy was "that friend". The one most of us had that would always do something incredibly stupid that no one else would consider....such as swimming in the Red Cedar.

Googling it states the Red Cedar River depth at 8-12 feet on campus, so definitely deep enough.

MiamiSpartan wrote:

The Pantry wrote:Walked on the ice a number of times (last time scared the shit outta me) but never been in the Red Cedar. Is it deep enough to drown in, excluding the 3 times the legal limit thing?

I believe it is, at least in the area behind Shaw Hall. My buddy went in after a volleyball and I don't think he could touch. And I'd always heard that there are so many logs, bikes, and other shit at the bottom that it's really easy to get your foot caught on something if you go down to the bottom.

Note: the above mentioned buddy was "that friend". The one most of us had that would always do something incredibly stupid that no one else would consider....such as swimming in the Red Cedar.

I didn't you and Guest were friends in undergrad. Cool.

tGreenWay wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:I don’t know anything about science at all so consider this a guess but if you die your liver stops processing the booze so it doesn’t really go anywhere.

I dunno though I’m a huge idiot

Based on my many hours of watching Law & Order and other cop shows, I thought that stuff was destroyed in drowning cases. Maybe the cold water preserved things, plus your liver speculation and I def agree you’re a huge idiot.

I mean greenway they determined the BAC somehow so I think we can presume that not everything is destroyed

tGreenWay wrote:

The Pantry wrote:Walked on the ice a number of times (last time scared the shit outta me) but never been in the Red Cedar.  Is it deep enough to drown in, excluding the 3 times the legal limit thing?

Drowning only takes a small amount of water. The RCR would’ve had plenty.
I’d be curious if there was any evidence of him falling. That’s a steep slope and it would’ve been tough to navigate with that much booze in his system. So maybe instead of walking on the ice and falling through, he fell down the slope and rolled into the water. Just idle speculation.

Not sure if serious, but he went missing in October. No ice to fall through.

After reading about this again yesterday, I texted my 22 year old daughter who leads a fairly boring life "doing anything for St. Patrick's Day"? She said probably not. Just hanging with her roommate. Told her whatever she did to be smart and make good decisions.

Just takes one lapse in judgment.

I fell into the red cedar at night while drunk. I had to pee, and I squatted along the end of the river, and slipped into it.
While it was a mere foot or so deep at the time, it was muddy and somewhat difficult getting out of. My friends had to help my drunk ass out of the river.

He could have done something similar. Went to the edge to take a piss, slipped, drunk, possibly hit his head, and inadvertently drowned.

If knowledge of the Red Cedar is limited to the occasional visits in the late spring, summer and fall in good weather I can understand how this kid drown.

Add to it he wasn’t familiar with campus so instead of walking to Grand River and crossing Harrison or walking to Spartan Statue roundabout then using the foot bridge to the Kellogg Center, he decided to cross where he might not be seen during the day much less around midnight.

Like most parents, my wife and I were lucky. Both our kids survived 4 years of campus weekends at Big Ten campuses and I can tell you both drank and neither were cheated out of a good time.

However both our daughter and son heeded our advice of being in a group using a buddy system. Neither were ever alone to make a fatal choice like this kid.

Dendrobates wrote:I fell into the red cedar at night while drunk. I had to pee, and I squatted along the end of the river, and slipped into it.
While it was a mere foot or so deep at the time, it was muddy and somewhat difficult getting out of. My friends had to help my drunk ass out of the river.

He could have done something similar. Went to the edge to take a piss, slipped, drunk, possibly hit his head, and inadvertently drowned.

yeah, I could see how this could happen. Like most people, I assume, I figured all along it was an accidental drowning. As tragic as it is, I was thankful that there was no foul play involved.

I e walked across it and worse, down it towards Holmes hall drunk at night in the winter. I sit here think ing of my stupidity and luck and freeze at the thought of my children doing dumbass things like I did. Luckily and hopefully they aren’t as ignorant as their father.

Question: how did releasing that autopsy to anyone but the family help?  Did releasing even help the family. I get they need closure but I’m wondering if hearing that was another stab to the heart.   I hope they can find peace.

You don't fuck with rivers. Holes, currents, undergrowth, logjams... It take a surprising low current to take you off your feet if not prepared/experienced.

DWags wrote:I e walked across it and worse, down it towards Holmes  hall drunk at night in the winter. I sit here think ing of my stupidity and luck and freeze at the thought of my children doing dumbass things like I did. Luckily and hopefully they aren’t as ignorant as their father.

Question: how did releasing that autopsy to anyone but the family help?  Did releasing even help the family. I get they need closure but I’m wondering if hearing that was another stab to the heart.   I hope they can find peace.

I'm not sure how it works, either - surely it's not subject to the Freedom of Information Act..  

and it's always difficult to figure what might be going on within a grieving family. Could be that they wanted the public to know that there was no foul play. That it was a a genuine accident that could, maybe, inspire families to have conversations in hopes that they will never have to deal with this.. underage/binge drinking, the buddy system, being aware of your surroundings, etc.

hard to know.

Could have easily been me in college

Other Teams Pursuing That wrote:Could have easily been me in college

Yep. And frankly I have to say that to my daughters. Letting them know I was dumb, hopefully, prevents things from happening. I’ve been drunk a billion times. Over .22? Maybe a handful. That’s the first words of caution to our loved ones.

DWags wrote:I e walked across it and worse, down it towards Holmes  hall drunk at night in the winter. I sit here think ing of my stupidity and luck and freeze at the thought of my children doing dumbass things like I did. Luckily and hopefully they aren’t as ignorant as their father.

Lived in the Cedar Village big building junior year.  When it was damn cold for a while and you knew the ice was good, people played hockey under the Bogue Street bridge.  Went down to the river one day and saw a pair of cross country ski tracks coming from the east.  They stopped at a hole in the ice next to the bridge.  The ice under the bridges get a lot of road salt runoff from above.  Unless it's really fucking cold for a long time, stay off the ice by the bridges.

Forget the class I had in east complex winter term.  Last class of the day.  Cut time crossing the river back to CV instead of walking around to the Bogue bridge.  Everything was fine until one day.

Got close to halfway across (think the river was maybe 60-70 feet wide there) and start hearing the ice crack.  Freaked.  Everything I'd learned in Wilderness Survival went out the window.  Started running my ass off (wearing Herman Survivors) to the other side.  Sound of ice cracking seemed to get louder with every step.  Thankfully made it to the CV side without getting wet.

Thought about that event many times over the years.  Had I gone in/under, doubt anyone would have seen or heard.

DWags wrote:I e walked across it and worse, down it towards Holmes hall drunk at night in the winter. I sit here think ing of my stupidity and luck and freeze at the thought of my children doing dumbass things like I did. Luckily and hopefully they aren’t as ignorant as their father.

Question: how did releasing that autopsy to anyone but the family help?  Did releasing even help the family. I get they need closure but I’m wondering if hearing that was another stab to the heart.   I hope they can find peace.

Given the number of people on our limited board that have said “yeah that could have been me” I think releasing the autopsy results probably helps remind the community to not fuck with the river

MiamiSpartan wrote:

The Pantry wrote:Walked on the ice a number of times (last time scared the shit outta me) but never been in the Red Cedar. Is it deep enough to drown in, excluding the 3 times the legal limit thing?

I believe it is, at least in the area behind Shaw Hall. My buddy went in after a volleyball and I don't think he could touch. And I'd always heard that there are so many logs, bikes, and other shit at the bottom that it's really easy to get your foot caught on something if you go down to the bottom.

Note: the above mentioned buddy was "that friend". The one most of us had that would always do something incredibly stupid that no one else would consider....such as swimming in the Red Cedar.

Maybe it was on tOB years back. Recall a story of students going in the river to clean it out...?

Turtleneck wrote:

MiamiSpartan wrote:

I believe it is, at least in the area behind Shaw Hall. My buddy went in after a volleyball and I don't think he could touch. And I'd always heard that there are so many logs, bikes, and other shit at the bottom that it's really easy to get your foot caught on something if you go down to the bottom.

Note: the above mentioned buddy was "that friend". The one most of us had that would always do something incredibly stupid that no one else would consider....such as swimming in the Red Cedar.

I didn't you and Guest were friends in undergrad. Cool.

You sonuvabitch! Why, I oughta! <shakesfist>

I also remember the river isn’t very deep in the area behind the right field fence at Kobs Field. There’s a drop off to the water, but not horrible. We used to sneak in without paying when I was in 9th grade by walking behind the fence all the way around. We also used to grab the balls Gibby hit into the water. Used to have a whole bucketful of just Gibby’s dingers, plus a couple of Rick Leach’s practice homers. No idea if I still have it.

FWIW, in Michigan autopsy results are a matter of public record and can be obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

That varies by state - some states require you to have a "legitimate interest," some hold all of them confidential and in some states (like Michigan) they are simply a matter of public record.

You can make arguments on both sides, but in the end they are paid for with tax dollars.

MSU addict wrote:FWIW, in Michigan autopsy results are a matter of public record and can be obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

That varies by state - some states require you to have a "legitimate interest," some hold all of them confidential and in some states (like Michigan) they are simply a matter of public record.

You can make arguments on both sides, but in the end they are paid for with tax dollars.

Interesting. Didn’t realize that

MSU addict wrote:FWIW, in Michigan autopsy results are a matter of public record and can be obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.  

That varies by state - some states require you to have a "legitimate interest," some hold all of them confidential and in some states (like Michigan) they are simply a matter of public record.

You can make arguments on both sides, but in the end they are paid for with tax dollars.  

Transparency is already bad enough in Michigan. I would hate seeing even more restrictions placed on information available to the public and, by extension, news orgs.