Crime & Safety

Foul Play Not Suspected in Grant Case

An autopsy is pending on the body of Alex Grant.

The Saratoga Springs Police Department has confirmed the cause of Alexander Grant's death was drowning.

Toxicology results will be available in several weeks.

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According to the Saratoga Springs Police Department, foul play is not suspected in the death of 19-year-old Briarcliff Manor resident .

The department issued a statement today revealing Grant's body was taken to the Albany Medical Center and is pending an autopsy.

Find out what's happening in Pleasantville-Briarcliff Manorwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Police state they initially responded to 3 Care Lane in Saratoga Springs at approximately 12 p.m. on Sunday, March 6 after being notified of a break in.

Officers found someone had entered the medical office building through a window and injured themself in the process. Blood was found in the building. There were no items missing from the building or evidence of any disturbance.

The building's security footage shows a white male—later confirmed to be Grant—dressed in shorts, a long sleeve shirt and one sock, kick in a window and climb through around 1:15 a.m.

Surveillance shows grant leaving the building at about 2 a.m.

Police say heavy rain in the area after the break in washed away any blood trail leading away from the building.

The burglary was still underway at 5 p.m. on Sunday when three individuals came into the Saratoga Springs Police Department and reported their friend Grant was missing. The friends confirmed Grant was the individual pictured in the surveillance footage.

began shortly after, which resulted in the finding of Grant's pants, one sock and identification. Search crews began looking in the wooded area north of Church Street and along nearby railroad tracks with thermal imaging equipment.

Though some footprints in the snow were identified by searchers on Sunday night, more snow was falling and covered the tracks. The search was called off at 11:30 p.m. due to weather.

On Monday, New York State Forest Rangers joined city police and fire personnel, along with volunteer search crews and canine trackers, to restart the search in the morning. A state helicopter also assisted. Forest Rangers identified additional areas to be targeted for further intensive searches on Tuesday.

Grant's body was found at approximately 11 a.m. by a fire department search crew in Putnam Creek, "in a sharp bend of the creek," where the water was approximately four-feet-deep.

Police say grant was at a party at a private Church Street residence on Saturday night, less than a mile from where he was found. Friends last saw him between 11:30 p.m. on Saturday and 12 a.m. on Sunday.

Anyone who saw or heard from Grant after he was last seen at the party, prior to his appearance on the building's video surveillance, is asked to contact the Saratoga Springs Police Department at (518) 584-1800.


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