The death of a North Carolina woman, whose body was found in a rain barrel on her own property last year, has been called a “tragic accident” by officials.
Karin Ottenberg, 49, was last seen alive and well on Dec. 22, 2024. Later that day, when her child—who splits time between his parents—was dropped off at her home, he could not find her.
“Other family looked and then the child went back with his father,” the medical examiner’s report said. PEOPLE obtained the report, which included medical records and notes from law enforcement.
The next day, Dec. 23, a missing person’s report was filed with the Wilmington Police Department. Law enforcement and Ottenberg’s family searched her home and other possible places, but she was not found.
Four days later, on Dec. 27, police returned to Ottenberg’s house. They discovered her fully clothed, “head down and curled up in a rain barrel next to the back deck,” the report said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The rain barrel was about 40 inches tall with an opening of roughly 18 inches. The report said her head was submerged in around 18 inches of water.
The report noted that the yard and deck had empty beer bottles, and video showed Ottenberg buying beer at a nearby store.
Officials found no clear signs of foul play or suicide. They believe she may have been reaching over the deck rail into the barrel when she accidentally fell. It is still unknown whether the barrel had rainwater before or after she fell.
“The death of Mrs. Ottenberg was a tragic accident. Investigators were in regular contact with her family during the time she was missing, all the way through her discovery,” a police spokesperson said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. “There was no evidence providing any criminal nexus to her death. This is all we will say out of respect for Mrs. Ottenberg’s family.”
The medical examiner listed her probable cause of death as accidental drowning. Police told PEOPLE the investigation is now closed.
Ottenberg’s obituary remembered her as a “devoted mother, daughter, sister, and friend whose warmth and kindness touched all who knew her.”
After working as a waitress, art teacher, and banker, she “found her true calling in horticulture, where she dedicated most of her career to nurturing and growing plants, flowers, bushes, and trees,” the tribute said. “Her love for nature and the beauty she cultivated mirrored the care she showed in all aspects of her life.”
Ottenberg is survived by her mother, Anita Mills Roberts; her brother, Kevin Rochelle; and her children, Isabella (Izzy) and Bodey Ottenberg.
