COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. — The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office says a woman who drove into a Cordova Pond after leaving a Collierville restaurant was not drugged but was driving drunk.
Kristen Fundo, 35, was still wearing her seat belt when divers found her body inside her submerged vehicle at a retention pond on Grays Hollow Drive South and Grays Mill Drive off Walnut Grove Road on Feb. 28.
During a news conference Monday afternoon, Chief Deputy Anthony Buckner said her death was ruled an accident.
An autopsy report confirmed that, stating the cause of death was “probable drowning,” with acute intoxication a contributing factor.
A toxicology report showed Fundo had a blood alcohol level of 0.279, which is more than three times the legal limit, Buckner said.
Fundo’s husband, who is a private contractor in Saudi Arabia, was out of the country when his wife died. Michael Fundo said he Facetimed her while she was at the restaurant.
Michael Fundo told WREG he had been tracking her phone as she left the restaurant and became alarmed when she didn’t answer the phone or reply to his text messages. He said he saw her drive toward the pond around 8 p.m.
The Collierville Police Department addressed possible drink tampering at three Collierville restaurants.
Police Chief Dale Lane said they began investigating the restaurants after receiving a complaint from a friend who was with Fundo at the restaurant.
Lane said the woman believed their drinks had been tampered with or drugged. Lane said two toxicology reports confirmed that no drugs were found in the complainant’s system.
Collierville Police said after Fundo’s accident, they received 11 complaints from individuals who believed they had been served tainted drinks at three area restaurants.
Casa Mexicana maintained its innocence in a post on social media, while other businesses like Frida’s shared their side of the story, saying they cooperated fully with the investigation.
Lanes said they went through hours of surveillance videos at the businesses and conducted several interviews with employees, but didn’t find any evidence of wrongdoing by the restaurants. He said every restaurant fully complied with their investigation.
SCSO said Fundo left Casa Mexicana on Houston Levee at 7:01 p.m. on Feb. 28. They said at 7:35 p.m., she backed into a driver at Houston Levee and Walnut Grove. The other driver said Fundo seemed confused before she fled the scene of the crash.
At 8:02 p.m., first responders received their first call about tail lights being spotted in the pond off Grays Mill Drive, in the back of a neighborhood off Walnut Grove.
Chief Deputy Buckner called the accident a tragedy that could have been prevented and reminded others about the dangers of drinking and driving.
WREG reached out to Casa Mexicana for a statement but at this time, have not heard back.
