National champion bodybuilder found dead by roommate

TUSCALOOSA (AP) — A national bodybuilding champion who was a student at The University of Alabama was found dead Wednesday morning by his roommate.

Dan Puckett, 22, was a senior at Alabama and would have graduated in December. Capt. Loyd Baker, commander of the Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit, said Puckett's roommate found him dead in the bathroom of their apartment.

Puckett's roommate last saw him about 1 p.m. Tuesday. He had complained of a possible muscle injury after returning home from the gym.

"The roommate left and returned at 7 a.m. He couldn't get an answer at the door and got a call that no one had heard from him since Tuesday afternoon," Baker said.

"When he got no response, he forced his way in and found him on the bathroom floor."

Baker said there were no visible signs of trauma or any suggestion of foul play. An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday. But it could take weeks for toxicology results to be returned for a final determination.

Puckett was from Muscle Shoals. He was studying marketing at Alabama's School of Commerce and Business Administration.

He was the heavyweight winner of the 2006 NPC Teenage/Collegiate National Bodybuilding contest held in Pittsburgh.

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