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SPANISH FORK — A preliminary autopsy report for a 20-year-old woman who died in Provo Canyon this week was released Friday morning.
"The tragic death of Hadley Boberg appears to have been caused by a combination of alcohol and weather-related factors," Utah County Sheriff's Lt. Tom Hodgson said, citing preliminary findings from the medical examiner.
The Utah County Sheriff's office is no longer investigating the incident as a homicide.
The sheriff's office received a call from Boberg's parents to report her as missing at around 8 a.m. Thursday.
A deputy later found Boberg's Jeep at the Big Springs Trailhead in Provo Canyon.
A 21-year-old man described as an acquaintance was also found at the scene inside the Jeep suffering from hypothermia and frostbite. The man told the deputy that he believed Boberg needed help but she was found a short distance away, dead on the road.
Initially, investigators thought the situation was suspicious due to the answers the man was giving to police. They said he seemed confused and possibly evasive.
Now, Hodgson said detectives believe the man was either still feeling the effects of the alcohol he had consumed or the frostbite he suffered.
"Could be the alcohol, could be hypothermia," he said. "Hypothermia can cause confusion."
Deputies believe the two were camping in area when Boberg died but they're not closing the case yet and are examining the relationship between Boberg and the man found in the jeep.
The man was not wearing any shoes when he was found. Boberg had one shoe on when she was found, and the other was on the ground nearby. The temperature in that area Wednesday night reportedly dropped to 17 degrees. They were found at an elevation of about 7,420 feet.
Detectives believe both parties had consumed alcohol, lost the keys to their vehicle and then walked and sometimes crawled around on the cold and wet ground searching for them.
At some point, Boberg either laid down on the ground or possibly tripped and fell, Hodgson said. He declined to reveal how much alcohol deputies found at the scene or how much they believe Boberg and her friend may have consumed.
Scrapes on the woman's arms that investigators originally thought may be defensive wounds are now believed to be scratches she received while the two were looking for their keys in the brush and trees.
The man is recovering from his injuries at a local hospital.
