Coroner: Drowned UGA student not victim of foul play

ATHENS - Authorities say foul play was not involved in the drowning of a 29-year-old University of Georgia student whose body was found in an Athens lake.

Clarke County coroner Bobby Tribble says that means Cayle Bywater likely was not a victim of Gary Hilton, the accused killer of 24-year-old hiker Meredith Emerson.

Tribble says Bywater's body had no signs of trauma or violence. Police say Emerson was kidnapped New Year's Day and kept alive for three days before she was beaten to death and then decapitated.

Hilton is a suspect or a person of interest in five other cases in Georgia, Florida and North Carolina.

The Hall County Sheriff's Office Dive Team recovered Bywater's body Friday afternoon.

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