San Diego Student Strangled Before Being Tossed Off Bridge, Coroner Says

A San Diego State University student whose body was tossed 75 feet from a bridge died of strangulation, according to a San Diego County coroner’s autopsy report initiated after the arrest of a California Highway Patrol officer accused of her murder.

Cara Evelyn Knott, 20, was killed on the night of Dec. 27, and her body was discovered the following day in a dry creek bed near an isolated Interstate 15 off-ramp. The autopsy report by Coroner David Stark said Thursday that she was not sexually assaulted.

CHP Officer Craig Peyer was arrested Jan. 15 by San Diego Police homicide investigators and charged with Knott’s murder. Peyer, a 13-year CHP veteran being held in County Jail on $1-million bail, is awaiting a Feb. 24 preliminary hearing.

Pathologists found no traces of alcohol or drugs in Knott’s body, which was fully clothed, Stark said. According to the autopsy report, Knott was killed on the bridge before her body was thrown into the dry creek below.