An intoxicated 55-year-old Federal Heights man died early Friday after he fell from his camp chair, smacked his head on his RV, tumbled down an embankment and landed face-down in the Big Thompson River.
David Lee Howard drowned in a matter of minutes in shallow water, according to Greg Fairman, Larimer County deputy coroner and investigator.
“It’s just unfortunate that he and his family come up here for the holiday and he dies in this kind of an incident,” Fairman said.
The cause of death is an accident, he said. The man had been drinking a lot of beer, he said.
A toxicology test is pending, but the volume of alcohol inside the man’s body indicates he was highly intoxicated, Fairman said.
Howard was sitting in a camp chair next to his RV at about 2 a.m. when he apparently stumbled out of the chair, struck his head on the side of the vehicle and tumbled down an 8-foot embankment into the water, he said.
During the fall, Howard’s face was severely impacted and he was probably knocked unconscious, Fairman said. He landed prone in shallow water near the bank of the river.
Howard’s wife and family attempted to resuscitate him but were unable to do so, he said.
Larimer County Sheriff’s deputies were called at 2:15 a.m. about the accident, which happened near the 2400 block of River Rim Road.
Although sheriff’s deputies continue to investigate the circumstances of the man’s death, authorities do not believe foul play was involved.
