Police blotter

Cause of teen's death unknown after autopsy

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An autopsy did not determine why an Evans couple found their 17-year-old grandson dead in his bed early Wednesday.

Evans High School senior Kevin Oskar Zettelmeier, 17, died in his sleep, Columbia County Coroner Vernon Collins said.

Zettelmeier's grandparents went into his bedroom at their Rachel Drive home to wake him for school and found him unresponsive, said Collins, who pronounced the teen dead at 7:20 a.m. Wednesday.

An autopsy Wednesday at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab in Augusta did not determine why the seemingly healthy Zettelmeier died.

No cause and manner of death will be determined until the state lab in Atlanta returns toxicology and lab results, which could take two months, Collins said.

No foul play or drugs are suspected, he said.

The following accounts were taken from reports from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. Additional reports are available at www.columbiacountyso.org:

Items taken from car while woman unloads groceries

A Martinez woman discovered Tuesday that someone stole her purse and laptop while she unloaded groceries from her car.

She said that about 4:40 p.m. she left her vehicle unlocked while she unloaded it. While she was taking groceries inside her apartment, someone stole her purse containing her wallet and car keys and her laptop computer.

Woman fires shot into air to stop break-in of her car

An Appling woman fired a gunshot into the air to scare away a man breaking into her car Tuesday.

She said that just after 3 a.m., her boyfriend looked out the front window of their home and saw a man in the front yard by her Chrysler Cirrus. Believing the man was breaking into the car, the woman asked for the gun the couple kept in the house and went outside to confront the man.

When the intruder saw the couple, he ran away and the woman shot the gun to frighten him.

Police said the car door was open. Nothing had been taken.

Someone poses as Realtor to submit online ad

An Evans Realtor told police Wednesday that someone posing as him posted an ad on Craig's List for rental property.

He said several people recently told him that someone was using his account on the Internet-based classified site and that someone had set up a Yahoo account in his name. The Realtor said he is concerned that someone is trying to rent one of his former properties fraudulently.

He said he has contacted the owner of the property and someone who claims to have spoken with the man who placed the false ad.