Medical examiner: Bartender accidentally drowned

THE DEATH of New Hope bartender Sarah Majoras has been ruled an accidental drowning, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office announced Monday.

Majoras' body was found Jan. 30 in the Delaware and Raritan Canal, which separates New Hope from Lambertville, N.J., following an intense four-day search. Majoras, 39, was last seen leaving the bar where she worked in New Hope, John and Pete's.

Officials said Monday that toxicology results indicated a high level of alcohol in Majoras' blood at the time of her death. Based on her physical condition, the icy-cold weather conditions and the lack of suspicious circumstances, the medical examiner ruled the death an accident.

"This was a missing-person investigation with a tragic outcome," Huntingdon County Prosecutor Anthony P. Kearns III said in a statement announcing the results. "As in all missing-persons cases, law enforcement, rescue personnel and volunteers utilized all available resources necessary to solve the case."

Kearns' office said the investigation is now closed.

Surveillance cameras showed Majoras crossing the bridge and turning north on Lambert Lane, but not her apparent fall.

The mysterious circumstances led to speculation that there may have been foul play involved, based on the fact that Majoras' boyfriend's roommate was found dead in the canal in 2000 after he went missing. Kearns maintained that investigators had found no evidence of foul play and that her boyfriend's connection was a coincidence.