Medical Examiner Says High Point Teen Died Of Chest Injuries

A 13-year-old boy who was missing for 10 days before his body was found died from a blunt force injury to the chest consistent with a fall, according to an autopsy report.

The report from Dr. Thomas Clark III of the Chief Medical Examiners Office in Chapel Hill lists the manner of Christopher Dixon's death as undetermined.

Dixon disappeared from his home shortly after returning from school Oct. 24. His body was found Nov. 2 under a bridge along an uncompleted portion of the U.S. 311 bypass.

Dixon, an eighth-grader at Shining Light Christian Academy, probably died from an accidental fall off the bridge or the concrete embankment beneath it, High Point police said.

There is no evidence to indicate foul play or a crime, according to police.

Clark did not describe Dixon's death as an accident.

The boy's clothes were wet and covered with sand and twigs, and there was no food in his stomach, according to Clark's report released Monday.

Dixon's body had started to decompose and had suffered significant injuries to the neck and chest.

Dixon also had three broken ribs, a separation of the joint that connected his skull and neck, spinal cord hemorrhaging and facial abrasions, according to the autopsy.

Dr. Gordon Arnold, the Guilford County medical examiner connected to the case, said earlier this week that he doubted the 13-year-old died from an accidental fall.

Dixon's parents, David and Holly Dixon, have said they believe their son was kidnapped and killed.