The death of an 18-year-old Louisiana State University student may have been the result of a fraternity hazing ritual known as “Bible Study,” investigators found. Maxwell Gruver died Sep. 14 after being taken to the hospital from the school’s Phi Delta Theta fraternity. Authorities had immediately suspected Gruver’s death was linked to hazing.

Search warrants filed Monday showed that Gruver may have taken part in a ritual known as “Bible Study” in which fraternity pledges were made to drink excessive quantities of alcohol. Phi Delta Theta fraternity pledges reportedly received a text message Sep. 13 telling them that the “Bible Study” would occur at the fraternity house that night at 10 p.m., LSU police said.

“Bible Study” referred to a pledging ritual in which prospective members were asked questions about the fraternity and made to consume alcohol if they answered incorrectly, police said. Gruver was allegedly put on a couch after becoming “highly intoxicated,” a witness told police, according to the Times-Picayune. Fraternity members found Gruver at 11 p.m. on that same couch with a weakened pulse. It was unclear if he was breathing, the witness said, and two people drove him to the hospital. He died at the hospital in the early hours of the morning.

Police seized a cellphone from the fraternity member who sent the text message about “Bible Study” as part of the investigation.

“Investigators also learned that there were several text messages sent about [Gruver’s] condition,” a police affidavit said.

Witness statements “indicated that the pledges were forced to drink in excess,” the affidavit said. A preliminary autopsy revealed that while there was no external or internal trauma to his body, Gruver had elevated blood alcohol levels and THC, a component of marijuana, in his urine.

Police searched the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house as well as Gruver’s dorm room as part of the investigation into his death. Authorities seized a duffel bag full of beer cans, bottles of liquor, a smoking pipe, a “pledge test,” cleaning supplies and two strands of white knotted rope, as well as security cameras which may have recorded video from the night in question.

The fraternity’s national headquarters, meanwhile, formally revoked the chapter’s charter after it found that it had violated the organizations alcohol-free housing policy. The fraternity also said anyone involved in Gruver’s death should be prosecuted to “the fullest extent of the law.”

Authorities have not yet determined charges in the case. No arrests had yet been made, nor were any suspects named in the case, police said.

“Hazing, sure, is a potential charge that is being considered,” said East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillary Moore, according to The Advocate. “But there are other charges being considered.”

RELATED STORIES