The man whose body was found Monday in Lake Superior on the Red Cliff Reservation might have been running from police when he fell off a cliff and into the lake.
According to a preliminary autopsy, Marvin B. Charette III, 18, drowned, the Bayfield County Sheriff's Department announced Tuesday. The rural Washburn teenager also suffered injuries consistent with a fall onto rocks and subsequently into Lake Superior.
"He fell about 40 feet," Bayfield County Sheriff Robert K. Follis said.
Authorities said they believe Charette was at a gathering of about 20 people near the cliffs along Lake Superior in Red Cliff on Saturday evening. About midnight, the Red Cliff Police Department responded to a report of an underage drinking party at the location. When police arrived, a number of other people left the area in different directions.
"The investigation indicates that during his departure from the area, Charette got too close to the edge of the cliff edge and fell," a release from the Sheriff's Department said. "The investigation continues with further interviews, but it is believed that this is an accidental death; alcohol was probably a factor."
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Follis said Charette did have alcohol in his system, but he declined to say what the precise level was before the family is told.
"It was pretty high," he said.
A kayaker found Charette's body on the shore in a small sea cave south of Schooner Bay on the Red Cliff Reservation about 3 p.m. Monday. His mother had reported him missing Monday morning. He had been missing since Saturday night. Charette would have turned 19 on Friday.
A search of Wisconsin Circuit Court records found several cases involving him, including a felony battery case in which he was scheduled to appear at a hearing in Bayfield County Circuit Court on July 20. Other court cases included theft, traffic violations, operating while suspended and bail jumping.
