Morrison – The 22-year-old college student from Colorado was found dead along the shore of a Kansas lake, his body covered in muck, with hardened mud in his mouth, blocking his airway.
A Kansas coroner ruled that Derrick Heidt died in February 2006 of accidental asphyxiation.
But Heidt’s parents in Morrison say the circumstances of their son’s death are suspicious, and they believe someone killed him.
They have been pushing Kansas authorities to open a homicide investigation since shortly after Derrick’s death.
“Right away, I became very suspicious of what was going on,” said Kevin Heidt, Derrick’s father. “My biggest suspicion – every time I asked the authorities the same question, I got a different answer.”
But so far, the cause-of-death ruling hasn’t changed. A review of the case by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation is ongoing.
When he died, the Heidts’ son was a senior at Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kan., about 50 miles southeast of the state capital of Topeka.
Kansas authorities first told the Heidts that their son had died of exposure, the couple recalled.
Official explanations of where his body was found, its condition and the manner of his death all changed over time, Kevin Heidt said.
He suspects his son was killed by people he knew who were dealing drugs. Three acquaintances were arrested just days before Derrick Heidt’s death, Kevin Heidt said.
Kevin Heidt fears that they thought his son, who had marijuana in his system when he died, had something to do with the arrests.
Derrick Heidt’s body was found at Pomona Lake, a fishing and camping spot about 25 miles west of Ottawa, by a passer-by who called police.
The night before, Derrick Heidt had phoned his father in a panic. He said he was driving around lost and was being followed by another vehicle.
“We would lose his cellphone connections and within an hour we got five or six calls (from him) trying to figure out where he was,” Kevin Heidt said.
With Derrick Heidt giving descriptions and Kevin Heidt using a map, they pinpointed his location, the father said. Then the phone connection was lost again.
It’s the last time Kevin Heidt talked to his son.
“Sixteen hours later is when we got notification that they had found Derrick’s body, that he was dead,” he said.
Dr. Erik Mitchell, Shawnee County coroner, said Heidt’s body showed no signs of trauma beyond the blocked airway.
A trace amount of lithium was found in Derrick’s system. Derrick had been dealing with anger issues, and his family physician had prescribed lithium to treat a possible bipolar disorder, the family said.
Mitchell believes Derrick Heidt had some type of psychological breakdown the night at the lake.
Derrick Heidt had an unusually large amount of urine in his body – about four times normal – which Mitchell interprets as a sign that Heidt’s mental state was in distress.
“There was no physical obstruction, nothing was affecting his bladder. It was a mental effect,” Mitchell said.
Kevin and Debbie Heidt said their son’s psychological issues had never included paranoia or severe panic.
The sheriff’s office in Osage County, where Pomona Lake is located, investigated the death. Only one set of footprints led to the body when a deputy first arrived on the scene, suggesting that Derrick Heidt was alone when he died, said Sheriff Laurie Dunn.
The sheriff’s office interviewed more than a dozen people, including some suspected by the Heidt family of being somehow involved, Dunn said.
Dunn said her office agrees with the coroner’s office and does not suspect foul play.
But the Heidt family says authorities came to an “accidental death” conclusion too quickly.
Derrick’s truck, which was found locked about 50 feet away from the body, was never processed or checked for fingerprints by investigators, the parents said. The family also said their son’s computer was taken from his apartment by authorities and can’t be found. And dozens of pages in a journal kept by Derrick Heidt – covering the days leading up to his death – were torn from the book and are missing, the parents said.
“It was botched, and now I think it’s a coverup,” said Debbie Heidt.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has been reviewing the death for more than a year. Sheriff Dunn called in the KBI because the Heidts continued to question the accidental-death ruling.
A special agent with the KBI in charge of its inquiry could not be reached last week.
The Heidts have hired a forensic pathologist, Deborah John- son, to review the case.
“We’re the same on the cause of death. There is no dispute on that; it’s from the mud found in his throat,” Johnson said. “The question is how it got there.”
Johnson said if Derrick had collapsed on his own in the mud, his cough reflex would have prevented a buildup.
“It just does not fit,” she said. “This is a suspicious death.”
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
