Adrienne Martin Found Dead In the Home Owned by August Busch IV

Dec. 24, 2010 — -- Investigators are working to determine what happened to 27-year-old Adrienne Martin, who was found dead earlier this week in the St. Louis-area mansion of August Busch IV, the heir of the Anheuser-Busch dynasty.

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

In a statement, Thomas Baker, Frontenac police chief, said that Martin's body was found with "no apparent signs of trauma or other indications of cause of death."

Busch, 46, 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.

It is not immediately clear whether Busch was at his home at the time of Martin's death.

Calls made to Busch's attorney, Art Marguilis, weren't immediately returned, but Marguilis told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that there is "absolutely nothing suspicious about her passing."

"It's a tragic and untimely death of a young person," he said, "A very kind young person, by the way."

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

St. Louis County forensic administrator Suzanne McCune said Thursday there were no signs of illness or trauma and that results of an autopsy could take four to six weeks, according to The Associated Press.

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

In recent years Busch has reportedly kept out of the public eye, but a 1997 profile of him in Fortune magazine detailed his "tumultuous" history.

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

Not Busch's Only Run-In With the Law

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

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. Busch 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. He 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 into onemodelplace.com at the beginning of October.

Martin wrote on her istudio.com profile that she works with children as an art therapist but is 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 45-year-old Dr. Kevin Martin until 2009, when they separated. The couple shared custody of their son, who is now 8.