The criminal investigation of the death of former St. Thomas student Dan Zamlen was formally closed last week, St. Paul Police Department spokesman Sgt. Paul Schnell said.

The case has officially been ruled an accidental death. Schnell said there was “never any foul play discovered relative to this case at all. The medical examiner did not find any indication that death was caused by foul play.”

Zamlen, a St. Thomas freshman at the time, was last seen in the early morning on April 5, 2009. His body was later recovered from the Mississippi River at the Ford Dam on May 1.

Schnell said the criminal investigation remained open for many months due to the large amount of information authorities had to investigate.

“There was a lot of work put into this case by a lot of people,” Schnell said. “With police, St. Thomas Public Safety, family, friends, and many others, there was a lot of effort put into finding him. Exactly how he came to be in the river is something that we will unfortunately probably never know.”

The criminal investigation will remain closed unless new information is received that would force the case to reopen.

Miles Trump can be reached at mttaylorjohn@stthomas.edu.