911 Call in Mysterious Busch Home Death Released

Dec. 27, 2010— -- The mystery of an aspiring model's death in the home of former Anheuser-Busch CEO deepened when authorities released the halting 911 call that was reportedly made more than 40 minutes after Adrienne Martin was found unresponsive.

"This girl is just not waking up. We can't get her to...," a man told emergency dispatchers. When asked if Martin, 27, was still breathing, he said, "We don't know."

Martin's death was reported to the police just after 1 p.m. Dec. 19, according to the Frontenac Police Department. Her body was found in a $2 million mansion in Huntleigh, Mo., owned by August Busch IV, the former Anheuser-Busch CEO.

The call was made by a Busch employe identified as Michael Jung, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

But there was a more than 40-minute gap between the discovery of Martin's condition and the call to dispatchers, which authorities are investigating, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

In a statement over the weekend, Frontenac Police Chief Thomas Baker said Martin's body was found with "no apparent signs of trauma or other indications of cause of death."

Busch's attorney also issued a statement in which he said there was "nothing to suggest anything suspicious" about Martin's death.

Her ex-husband, Dr. Kevin J. Martin, 45, told the St. Louis Post Dispatch Friday that he did not know his ex-wife's cause of death, but he said she had a heart condition called Long QT syndrome, a rare inborn heart condition that can cause palpitations, fainting and sudden death.

Martin told the newspaper that he learned about his ex-wife's condition after performing an electrocardiogram on her after they wed in 2002. He said that she did not discuss the condition with others, and that he had not discussed it with authorities.

"She refused to see a cardiologist about it," Martin said. "I've always suspected she thought I was overreacting."

Busch is the great-great-grandson of Anheuser-Busch founder Adolphus Busch, and had been in charge of the famed brewery until 2008, when the long-time family company was sold to InBev.

Tests on Cause of Death Could Take Weeks

While officials at the Frontenac Police Department declined to speculate on what may have caused Martin's death, an unnamed source from the squad told the Post-Dispatch that an overdose was possible.

It could take as long as six weeks for the results of toxicology tests to determine whether she suffered an overdose, officials said.

St. Louis County forensic administrator Suzanne McCune said Thursday there were no signs of illness or trauma to Martin's body.

It had been widely reported that Martin and Busch had been dating for nearly a year.

In recent years, Busch had reportedly kept out of the public eye, but a 1997 profile of him in Fortune magazine described him as having a "tumultuous" history.

Known to most people as simply "The Fourth," Busch wore cowboy boots every day and spoke candidly to the magazine about his role in the company, shooting down claims that his life had been made any easier by his position of power, while still admitting that he was part of the family tradition that required all Busch babies to drink a few drops of Budweiser on the day they're born.

"People think, 'Here's a guy who's got it all -- the Busch name, the best job in the world,'" Busch told Fortune in 1997. "It's a very different reality."

Not Busch's Only Run-In With the Law

In 1983, when Busch was 20, he was involved in a car accident in which his friend and passenger, Michele Frederick, 22, died. According to published reports at the time, Busch, who was then a sophomore at the University of Arizona, had been driving a black Corvette 20 miles above the posted speed limit when the car spun out of control.

Busch left the scene and cops later found him with a severe head wound at his home in Tucson. He was never charged due to lack of evidence.

When asked about the accident, Busch told Fortune that, "I had a bad head injury. I don't remember that part of my life."

Then just a few years later, in 1985, Busch had another run-in with the law. He was arrested after leading police on a high-speed car chase in St. Louis, driving his father's Mercedes, according to the Wall Street Journal.

He was put on trial on assault charges for attempting to run over two police officers but was acquitted of by a St. Louis jury.

As for Martin, she appears to have been an aspiring model, with profiles on modeling websites called istudio.com and onemodelplace.com. She had last logged on to onemodelplace.com at the beginning of October.

Martin wrote on her istudio.com profile that she worked with children as an art therapist but was interested in getting into modeling.

"Aside from my long-term goal, I have been in pageants for several years now and I feel I want to do something more: MODELING!" she wrote. "I really would like to do beer advertising!"

She also wrote that she had been employed at Hooters for several years and had competed in several swimsuit competitions.

According to the Post-Dispatch, Martin had been marred to Dr. Kevin Martin, 45, until 2009, when they separated. The couple shared custody of their son, who is now 8.