Death of Saint Joe’s student from Delco in Bermuda ruled ‘tragic accident’

Mark Dombroski’s death has been ruled an accident – he likely fell from a height into a moat in Bermuda, according to preliminary autopsy results released Thursday afternoon.

Foul play is not suspected. Authorities on Bermuda Thursday described it as a “tragic accident.”

Dr. Christopher Milroy described the injuries suffered by the 19-year-old freshman as being consistent with a fall from a high point.

“I found no evidence of foul play in my postmortem examination,” said Milroy, an independent pathologist who was brought in from Canada by the Bermudan coroner to carry out the autopsy.

A police official in Bermuda indicated authorities there would continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the fall.

Police said even with the pathologist’s ruling, that his office would continue investigating all leads.

“We’ll do all our best efforts to get a clearer picture of what happened that morning,” Superintendent Sean Field-Lament said. “There’s nothing to indicate that he was pushed at this stage. The truth of the matter is, we may not ever find out how he came to fall.”

Field-Lament said authorities on the island were working with the FBI to gain access to Dombroski’s locked cellphone. He also asked any witnesses who may have seen Dombroski before his death to come forward.

Dombroski, a Saint Joseph’s University freshman from Upper Providence, was on the island with his rugby teammates to take part in a tournament. He was last seen alive leaving a local nightspot early Sunday morning. His body was discovered in the moat Monday.

A forensic pathologist on the island released the results of an autopsy Thursday afternoon.

Dombroski was the subject of a massive search on the island for more than 24 hours before his body was discovered.

The Archmere Academy grad was a freshman business major.

Acting Assistant Commissioner James Howard had indicated that Dombroski’s body was found at the base of a colonial era fort in the British Island territory.

Authorities had indicated Dombroski was last seen on surveillance video walking alone while using a cellphone.

“Terribly saddened by the loss of our teammate Mark Dombroski (’21) who was our friend, our teammate, and our brother. A true champion of the game,” said the St. Joseph’s University Rugby team on Facebook.

According to authorities, Dombroski’s body was found in a moat at Fort Prospect, which is located between Mary Victoria Road and police headquarters in Devonshire. The discovery was first announced at a press conference Monday, after a day of extensive searching that involved his family, volunteers and local authorities.

Police gave this series of events:

* At 1:30 a.m. Sunday, March 18, CCTV images show Dombroski walking alone along Alexandra Road in Devonshire, which is immediately to the south of where his body was found. Further review of CCTV shows no other activity in the neighborhood at that time.

* Dombroski’s body was found at the base of a significant drop at Fort Prospect.

* Dombroski’s wallet and cell phone were found with him, intact.

Contrary to recent speculative social media posts, his body was not bound or tied up.

Dombroski was last seen about 1 a.m. at The Dog House, a bar and restaurant in Hamilton, the island’s capital. Authorities said there is no evidence Dombroski was drunk, or that alcohol played a role in his disappearance.

Dombroski’s mother, Lisa, who was on the island with family members, speculated her son, who had hurt his shoulder in a game that day and wasn’t feeling well, had simply wanted to call it a night. She said the surveillance footage showed him favoring his arm.

“He wasn’t in a celebratory kind of mood,” the mother said. “He wanted to get back.”

The team from Saint Joe’s was among more than 20 taking part in the athletic event. The event was hosted by the Bermuda Rugby Football Union, which had posted a $1,000 reward soon after the player was reported missing.