Cory Erving Died of Accidental Drowning

S A N F O R D, Fla., Aug. 2, 2000 -- The youngest son of NBA legend Julius “Dr.J” Erving died of accidental drowning when he inadvertently drovehis car into a retention pond, the Seminole County sheriff ruledtoday.

The final report into Erving’s death by the Seminole CountySheriff’s Office ends the investigation into the younger Erving’smysterious disappearance more than two months ago.

Julius Erving, in early June, made a nationwide plea for help infinding Cory, who had struggled with a drug habit and had hadrun-ins with the law.

Trace amounts of cocaine were found in Cory Erving’s decomposedbody, indicating he had ingested the drug within two or three daysof the accident, but they were at insufficient levels to affect hisdriving or ability to escape from the car, said Sheriff DonEslinger.

Forensic investigators also had looked into whether Erving wasusing the sleep-inducing allergy reliever Benadryl at the time ofthe accident.

Tragic Shortcut

Erving, 19, was last seen May 28 by co-workers at arestaurant-cafe running an errand to pick up bread for his family’sMemorial Day weekend cookout. His body was found July 6 in aretention pond less than a mile from his family’s home.

Erving was taking a shortcut on a dirt road between twosubdivisions when the car went into the pond. He was travelingbetween 27 mph to 38 mph when the Volkswagen Passat entered thewater, Eslinger said.

Although Erving had taken the shortcut many times in the past,piles of cut-down trees and underbrush along the path may haveblocked the pond’s view until he was 128 feet away from the water.By then, it was too late.

“At that speed, he would have only been able to apply thebrakes when he hit the water,” Eslinger said. “At that speed, hewould have been in the water.”

Windows Open

The car’s Volkswagen emblem was found 7 feet from shore,where the car entered the water, but the car drifted 97 feet fromthe shoreline. Cory apparently drove with the car seat almost in areclining position.

The car’s four doors were locked, the ignition and a tape deckwere on and the lights were off, indicating the accident occurredduring daylight. The driver’s side window was open 6 inches andthe backseat window on the driver’s side was open 8 inches.

It took one to two minutes for the car to fill with water andmore than 3½ minutes for the car to be completely submerged.Erving’s body was found facedown toward the back of the vehicle.

Eslinger said he didn’t know why Erving wasn’t able to escape.

“We don’t have a theory,” he said. “We cannot speculate on why he did not exit that vehicle.”