Police said Wednesday that a man found dead Monday in a ditch near the Farmers Turnpike died accidentally from hypothermia and drowning, possibly compounded by cocaine and alcohol intoxication.

“At this time, the manner of death does not appear suspicious,” Douglas County Sheriff Ken McGovern said. “Our department would like to extend our sympathy to his family and friends.”

McGovern identified the man as Michael R. Gisi, 34, Topeka.

Gisi had been in Lawrence with friends on Sunday night, McGovern said. As they were returning to Topeka, there was an argument in the vehicle and Gisi was asked to get out of the car in the area where his body was later found.

Gisi’s friends the next day were unable to contact him on his cell phone and filed a missing-person report with Topeka Police, McGovern said.

McGovern said he didn’t know what the argument was about or what Gisi had been doing in Lawrence.

“All that is under investigation,” he said.

Gisi’s body was partially submerged in water in a ditch when a motorist spotted it Monday evening, McGovern said. Police restricted traffic in the area, canvassed the neighborhood and asked whether anyone had seen anything suspicious.

At the time, they said, they had to treat the case as if it were a homicide.

McGovern said the department would continue to follow leads in the case if they came in. Final toxicology analysis from the autopsy could take another six to eight weeks, he said.

— Staff writer Eric Weslander can be reached at 832-7146.

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