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Alcohol suspected in local college student’s death, coroner investigators say

WILBERFORCE — Coroner investigators say alcohol may have played a role in a local college student’s death.

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Her family has hired a lawyer, who has handled several cases involving deadly hazing at universities across Ohio.

As News Center 7 previously reported, Wilberforce University announced the death of student Savannah Jones on April 30.

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We now know the 18-year-old from Toledo died on campus last week.

The Greene County Coroner’s office confirms Jones was never taken to a hospital.

She was pronounced dead inside a dorm on campus.

The coroner’s office confirms it got the call to respond to the campus at 2:00 a.m. last Thursday, April 30.

A Greene County Coroner’s Office investigator told News Center 7 there were no signs of trauma.

But did confirm that, although nothing is for sure at this point in the investigation, he did tell Jones’ family that alcohol may have been a factor in her death.

News Center 7 started taking a closer look at Jones’ death when her family asked us to.

When News Center 7’s John Bedell called the family on Monday, he got a call back from their lawyer, who said in a brief statement:

“We are in the process of investigating what happened at Wilberforce. Really don’t have further comment yet.”

Now that her autopsy has been completed at the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab in Dayton, the Greene County Coroner’s Office said it will not release a cause or manner of death for Jones until her final autopsy, which it said typically takes six to eight weeks.

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