Coroner concludes missing Wyoming boy died of exposure
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - A coroner has determined a boy who went missing in central Wyoming last fall died of exposure, and it was an accident.
No crime was committed in the death of 16-year-old Joey Peterson and the investigation is closed, Natrona County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Taylor Courtney said Wednesday.
Two people on horseback found Peterson's body Sunday about 4 miles from his family's rural home, the Casper Star-Tribune reports.
The body was Peterson's and an autopsy showed he died of exposure and hypothermia, Natrona County Coroner James Whipps said.
Peterson left home in November wearing only pajamas and a sweatshirt. Peterson had high-functioning autism and officials described him as not self-sufficient.
Scores of volunteers and others searched for Peterson before winter halted the effort. The area where Peterson's body was found had been searched but grass, sagebrush and cactus likely hid it from view, investigators said.
