Cotter said evidence might show that her daughter did not jump from the tower and police have been quick to rule the death a suicide.

Local residents of the small Indiana town have told Cotter that her daughter would not have been able to climb the tower without aid. She said the electrical tower is in a remote area on the golf course.

“If somebody wanted to commit suicide, there was a far more accessible tower,” Cotter said.

Cotter added that without directions to the golf course, which is located about two and a half miles away from the nearest major road, “there’s no way” her daughter would have found it.

Rylan’s body was found 28 feet from an electrical tower on the golf course with items still in her hand. Police and Nancy Cotter have not disclosed what the items were.
Prior to her death, Cotter was seen alone on a surveillance tape at a Chesterton business purchasing a box cutter and allergy medicine, Cotter said. A coroner’s report stated Cotter had a non-lethal dose of Diphenhydramine, commonly known as Benadryl, in her system. Authorities also found a small wound on her left wrist that was bandaged.

Cotter’s family and friends reported to police that Rylan had exhibited changes in behavior and skipped several classes prior to her death. Nancy Cotter said that her daughter was coping with the illness of a close family member and only missed classes that were unrelated to her plans to travel to Darfur for an internship.

Cotter said she bears no ill will against Chesterton Police and doesn’t believe they are involved in a cover-up. She said she is asking for additional help and more investigation into her daughter’s suspicious death.

Cotter said her ultimate goal is for police or a coroner to change the manner of her daughter’s death from “suicide” to “undetermined” because of the unknown factors surrounding the death.

“I’m only one person but I’m asking for support because, like Rylan, I believe one person can make a difference,” Cotter said.

Chesterton police Lt. Dave Cincoski, the lead investigator for the case, said police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding Cotter’s death and sporadically receive new information related to the case, the latest of which came last week.

Cincoski said police are still waiting on lab results, the specifics of which he declined to divulge because the investigation is still open. He said the investigation will remain open until all leads have been exhausted.