The Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office has determined that the 2-year-old Indiana girl, Emma Sweet, who was found dead in November, days after her dad was rescued from a submerged pickup truck by some hunters, died from drowning, according to a report.
On Nov. 28, three days after Thanksgiving, investigators found Emma’s body in a debris-filled area along the White River in Bartholomew County, FOX 59 of Indianapolis reported.
Four days earlier, Emma was last seen alive with her father in the pickup truck, the news outlet reported. Then on Thanksgiving Day, relatives reported Emma and his dad missing, the report said.
The Coroner’s Office described the girl’s official cause of death as “complications of hypothermia and asphyxia due to drowning” and was ruled a homicide, FOX 59 reported.
Emma’s father, Jeremy Sweet, 39, faces two felonies, including neglect of a dependent resulting in death and unlawful possession of a syringe, according to the station.
Police say Jeremy Sweet was not being straightforward about how his truck ended up the river and what happened to his daughter, the report said. However, authorities believe he drove the truck off a barrier from a height to 15-to-20 feet above the river.
