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SALT LAKE CITY — The death of a 26-year-old woman whose body was found in the Bear River in July 2016 has been ruled an accident.
The state medical examiner has determined Nicole Barlow, of Brigham City, drowned "due to acute morphine and methamphetamine toxicity," the Box Elder County Sheriff's Office said Friday in a prepared statement.
There was no evidence of trauma, according to the sheriff's office.
Barlow was spotted by a fisherman about 8:45 p.m. on a Saturday in a stretch of river about a quarter-mile north of Corinne, police said at the time.
Authorities initially considered the death suspicious.
"The investigation was actively pursued for over a year with dozens of witnesses and people claiming to have information being interviewed," the sheriff's office said in its statement. Detectives traveled out of state to speak with people who said they had information and followed all leads, officials said.
The sheriff's office reached its final determination by considering those interviews, evidence gathered from the scene and the medical examiner's conclusion.
Toxicology tests showed evidence of alcohol, methamphetamine, amphetamine and morphine, with some of those at toxic levels, according to the sheriff's office.