HM Senior Coroner Caroline Sumeray has concluded that the death of a Sandown man, who was found in the river at Alverstone back in 2024, was drug-related.
Earlier this month, under Section 9C of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, the Isle of Wight’s Coroner concluded an inquest into the death of Cody Jai Hills, who died on 1st February 2024.
As previously reported by Island Echo, Police, Fire, Paramedics and the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance (HIOWAA) rushed to the village of Alverstone at around 10:45 that morning following reports that a man had ‘fallen’ in the water.
At the scene, the body of Hills, from Downsview in Sandown, was discovered.
The official record of inquest states that Cody was seen floating in the River Yar, near Alverstone Weir. He was recovered from the water, where a pair of cyclists commendably tried to save him, but he was found to be deceased at the time.
In the aftermath of the incident, Police issued an appeal to locate the pair of cyclists as they worked to piece together the events of that Winter Day.
It wasn’t clear how Cody, who worked as a car detailer, came to be in the water, but a toxicology report revealed that he had suffered a cardiac arrest from cocaine toxicity.
Coroner Sumeray concluded that Mr Hill’s death was drug-related.
