IRONTON -- An autopsy of Guy Cameron Thomas, the man who was dragged several blocks under a police cruiser, was inconclusive as to the cause of death, Lawrence County Coroner Burton Payne said Tuesday.

"There was no evidence of an impact injury," said Payne, who received a preliminary report of the autopsy performed Tuesday morning by the Franklin County Coroner's office in Columbus on Thomas, 46, of 914 S. 9th St., Ironton.

"The pathologist wants to check on (Thomas') medical history," Payne said. "There are some findings that could be consistent with a seizure. I haven't talked to the family about his past medical history."

Susan Taylor, an Ironton resident who grew up with the 1980 Ironton High School graduate, said Thomas did have epilepsy and was taking medication for the condition which could, under some conditions, cause death.

Taylor said Tuesday she's concerned about a cover-up. Even if Thomas had suffered a seizure, she said, it doesn't explain how his body could get under an Ironton police cruiser and be dragged nearly a mile on snow- and ice-covered streets to near the Ironton police station Saturday night.

Police Chief Jim Carey said authorities haven't been able to find any indication on the police cruiser that it struck a pedestrian. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Identification (BCI) is conducting an investigation into the death and has taken the police cruiser and processed it, Carey said.

Thomas' body was found beneath a cruiser driven by Patrolman Richard Fouts, 27, a police officer with two months experience on the city police department. Fouts has been placed on paid, administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Carey said Fouts worked at several other police departments before taking a job with the Ironton Police Department earlier this year.

Thomas' body was found near the back of the cruiser. The autopsy did show some burns on his skin, Payne said, but those burns likely were made after he died.

It is believed that Thomas was dragged some 10 blocks from South 9th Street to behind the Ironton City Center building. It still isn't known how Thomas's body got beneath the cruiser or why Fouts didn't know he was dragging Thomas as he drove toward the police station on his way to work the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift Saturday night, Carey said.

Meanwhile, Deotis Conwell, second vice president of the local branch of the NAACP, said the organization is monitoring the investigation by authorities.

"We'll see what the (BCI) investigation shows," Conwell said Tuesday. "We are investigating this. Nobody is above the law."

Photo courtesy of WSAZ NewsChannel 3

Guy Thomas