Byrne Had Meth, Other Drugs in Her System at Time of Death

Alyssa Byrne, the 19-year-old Petaluma woman who died in Lake Tahoe while attending a music concert, had taken methamphetamine and various “psychoactive drugs,” the Press Democrat is reporting.

Byrne was reported missing January 1 after she failed to return to the South Lake Tahoe hotel room she was sharing with friends, where the group was attending the SnowGlobe Music Festival.

Four days later, a maintenance worker found Byrne’s body behind a snow berm, leading to speculation that she had passed out after being drunk, then froze to death in the snow.

But the autopsy showed that Byrne, a standout lacrosse player who was attending Santa Rosa Junior College to become a paramedic, had no alcohol in her body, according to the story. She did have a significant amount of methamphetamine in her system, along with other psychoactive drugs, the names of which authorities did not release, citing requests from the family.

Hypothermia was also listed as a cause of death.

In the wake of the tragedy, Byrne’s family has launched a public awareness campaign for teens to “buddy up” in dangerous situations.

To read more about the autopsy report, see the Press Democrat article.