Autopsy on Boardman skydiver inconclusive

PARKMAN — An autopsy on Daniel R. Mathie, who was killed in a skydiving accident Saturday, was inconclusive, said Portage County Sheriff David Doak.

Doak said the autopsy was unable to provide authorities with any decisive cause of death, and the results of other standard tests should be back in a few weeks.

“At this point we’re not going to learn much from the autopsy,” Doak said.

Mathie, 30, of Boardman, and Sierra A. Thomas, 22, of Brunswick, were killed after a routine tandem skydive at the Cleveland Parachute Center Inc. in Parkman went awry.

Both victims, who were sharing the same parachute, jumped from a plane that took off from the club, which is located on Grove Road in Geauga County.

Doak said after Mathie opened the parachute, the canopy did not fully open, and it began to spiral.

Mathie and Thomas jumped from the plane at an altitude of about 8,000 feet, he said.

“We’re trying to figure out what the chain of events were with the parachute,” Doak said. “The honest answer is we may never know, but we’re going to continue the investigation and figure out some probable cause for it.”

He said the department may have more information by the end of the week.