Officials at the state Office of the Medical Investigator have not yet determined the cause of death for a 47-year-old student who was found in his Student Resident Center dorm room Oct. 4.
Tim Stepetic, associate director of the Office of the Medical Investigator, said toxicology tests are in the process of being performed and that they should shed light on why the senior biology major died.
"It's a standard test that is being run by the state laboratory division," he said.
The toxicology tests were ordered the day after Frank Baca's body was discovered by a University housing crew, Stepetic added.
Two of the toxicology tests will be performed, he said. The first will test for alcohol and the second for 16 pharmaceutical and illegal drugs.
The tests have not yet produced any results, but he should start receiving results sometime toward the end of this week, Stepetic said.
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He added that there was no evidence of natural death, such as a heart attack or embolism, or of trauma to the body, such as an accidental or obvious self-inflicted injury.
Stepetic said his office does not know how long Baca's body was in the room before being discovered.
When Baca was discovered in his dorm room, his body had decomposed to the point that a visual identification was not possible, UNM Police Department Commander James Daniels told the Daily Lobo in an Oct. 6 interview.
Stepetic said that Michael Smith, the medical investigator that performed Baca's autopsy, said x-rays and fingerprints were used to identify his body.
Stepetic said Baca's autopsy and death certificate would not be considered complete until a cause of death is determined.
