A 69-year-old Loveland man who was pulled from Horsetooth Reservoir on Sunday night died of natural causes.
An autopsy by the Larimer County Coroner’s Office was performed this morning and initial results indicate a “cardiac-related death,” a coroner’s office spokesman said.
A complete autopsy report is pending, awaiting toxicology and microscopic test results before an official cause of death is released.
But preliminary results indicate that the victim, identified as Daniel Titus Ephland, did not drown, the coroner’s office said.
At about 9:45 p.m. Sunday a 911 call was made to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office about a man who was missing at the reservoir.
Searchers and emergency personnel responded to the Soldier Cove area, on the north end of the reservoir, and were told by family members that he was last seen on one of five boats tied together, according to a media release from the sheriff’s office.
Members of the Larimer County Dive Team found the man in the water at about 10:45 p.m., the sheriff’s office said. Efforts to revive him were performed on scene but the victim did not respond.
An investigation is ongoing, but authorities do not suspect foul play at this point, the sheriff’s office said.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
