A formal autopsy blames heart disease for the death of Glenn Foster, Jr., the former NFL player who died in police custody in West Alabama almost a year ago.

Questions have lingered since Foster was arrested and died following a high-speed chase in Pickens County last December, which the Thread covered extensively at the time. 

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Foster, a former defensive end for the New Orleans Saints, reportedly fled a traffic stop for speeding and almost caused several accidents before crashing in Gordo, Alabama.

Foster was taken into custody by Reform Police Officers and placed in the Pickens County Jail, where he allegedly acted erratically, attacked another inmate and fought with two corrections officers.

Little has been disclosed about what happened between the alleged altercation in the jail and Foster's death, but the following day, the 31-year-old was dead at a medical facility in Northport, here in Tuscaloosa County.

Foster's body was sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for an autopsy, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency's State Bureau of Investigation launched a probe into the incident.

The Thread requested a copy of the autopsy report last December, and it was provided Monday morning.

The ADFS found Foster died of natural causes, and said Foster suffered from hypertensive cardiovascular disease.

The autopsy noted Foster had several injuries, including "abrasions encircling the right and left wrists," "a contusion of the left arm, left knee and left thigh," and "an abrasion of the nose," but found most of the body to be "unremarkable."

There was no evidence of fracturing or hemorrhage that could have affected the brain, and there were no injuries to the bone, cartilage or muscles of the neck.

An internal examination found Foster's lungs were "markedly congested but otherwise unremarkable," and lab tests found no trace of drugs or alcohol in his system.

The ADFS found Foster's heart had "concentric hypertrophy of the left ventricular myocardia," which means the walls of the main chamber of his heart were abnormally thick and blood may not have been pumping efficiently.

The autopsy blames the cardiovascular disease for Foster's death. ALEA and the SBI have not said any more about the case since launching their investigation last year.'

For more on this case as it becomes available, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.

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