Colby Collapsed Before Dying, Autopsy Finds

Former CIA Director William Colby probably collapsed from a heart attack or stroke while he was out canoeing, and then fell into the water and died, the state medical examiner’s office said Friday.

An autopsy found evidence the 76-year-old Colby had suffered from hardening of the arteries, Chief Medical Examiner John Smialek said in a statement.

Colby’s body was found Monday after an eight-day search involving divers, dogs and sonar equipment. He was found lying face-down in a marshy riverbank, near where he disappeared on a canoe outing.

“He apparently had a heart attack or stroke and fell out of the canoe into and the water where he died of hypothermia and drowning,” said Jeannette A. Duerr, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.