Golf Pro’s Mysterious Death Finally Ruled Accidental After Two Months of Unanswered Questions

A beloved golf professional’s death shattered his community.

The circumstances surrounding his final moments left more questions than answers.

And a medical examiner’s ruling two months later did nothing to ease his family’s pain.

Nathan Westergaard’s body was discovered just before 5 a.m. on August 3 in Rochester, Minnesota.¹

The 38-year-old assistant golf professional at Rochester Golf and Country Club was lying in the eastbound lanes of Salem Road Southwest when a driver struck him.

First responders rushed to the scene and attempted lifesaving measures, but Westergaard died before they could save him.

The driver who hit him immediately called 911 and cooperated with investigators.

Police found no evidence of criminal conduct related to the collision itself.²

But that’s where the easy answers ended and the nightmare began for Westergaard’s family.

Family demands answers about bizarre circumstances

The Rochester Police Department quickly determined the actual collision was accidental.

That didn’t explain why Westergaard was lying in the middle of the road ten blocks from the golf club where he worked.³

His family launched a GoFundMe to cover funeral costs and potential legal fees as they searched for answers about what really happened that morning.

"Why was Nate found alone, so far from home?" organizer Melina Susienka wrote. "Why wasn’t his phone found?"⁴

Those questions haunted everyone who knew him.

Martin Keefe worked alongside Westergaard at the country club for 16 years.

He painted a picture of a man thriving in life, not someone you’d expect to find lying in a road at 5 a.m.

"To be honest, I think it was the best year I’d seen him in a long time," Keefe told reporters. "He was wonderful. His work was fabulous this year. He was up walking his dog every morning, like his life was fantastic as far as I know."⁵

The day of his death, Westergaard wasn’t even scheduled to work.

Nobody could explain why he ended up on that stretch of road, alone, without his phone, lying on the pavement in the pre-dawn darkness.

Rochester police launched a full investigation into the circumstances that led to Westergaard being in that roadway.

They interviewed witnesses, collected evidence, and waited for the medical examiner’s findings.

For two months, the family held their breath hoping for clarity.

Medical examiner closes case with ruling that satisfies no one

On October 21, the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office finally issued its determination.

Westergaard’s death was ruled an accident caused by blunt force trauma from being struck by the vehicle.⁶

The Rochester Police Department confirmed the case was "non-criminal" and no longer active.⁷

That ruling brought the official investigation to a close.

But it didn’t answer the fundamental questions that tormented Westergaard’s loved ones.

How did a healthy 38-year-old man who was "up walking his dog every morning" end up lying unconscious in the middle of a road miles from home?

Where was his phone?

What happened in the hours before that driver found him at 5 a.m.?

The medical examiner determined how Westergaard died – blunt force trauma from the collision.

They never explained why he was there in the first place.

Pattern of mysterious road deaths raises uncomfortable questions

Westergaard’s case fits a disturbing pattern that medical examiners and police departments struggle to explain.

People found lying in roads with no clear explanation for how they got there rarely get the full investigation their families deserve.

Medical examiners face pressure to close cases quickly and definitively.

When the immediate cause of death is obvious – in this case, being struck by a vehicle – they often rule it accidental and move on.

That leaves families like the Westergaards stuck in purgatory between grief and the gnawing certainty that something doesn’t add up.

Police investigations into the circumstances leading up to these deaths typically go nowhere fast.

Without evidence of foul play at the collision scene itself, departments treat them as tragic accidents rather than potential crimes that need solving.

The Rochester Police Department spent two months investigating what led to Westergaard being in that roadway.

They found nothing that changed the medical examiner’s accidental death ruling.

Case closed. Investigation over. Family left wondering forever.

This pattern repeats across the country with depressing regularity.

A recent Associated Press investigation found that manner-of-death rulings can be "riddled with inconsistencies, suspect science or conflicts of interest" – especially when local law enforcement might face scrutiny.⁸

Medical examiners ruled deaths accidental more frequently when they operated in the same community as the department under investigation.⁸

In Westergaard’s case, there’s no suggestion of police misconduct.

But the system’s structural weaknesses remain glaring.

When medical examiners rule a death accidental, investigations stop.

District attorneys don’t prosecute. Families don’t get answers.

The Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office delivered its verdict after two months of waiting.

Westergaard’s family now faces decades of living with questions that will never be answered.

"How do we move forward without our son, our little brother?" Susienka wrote in the GoFundMe.⁹

The medical examiner gave them a cause of death.

Nobody gave them closure.

¹ "UPDATE: RPD identifies man struck by vehicle while lying in the road Sunday morning," KTTC, August 4, 2025.

² "Questions remain in Rochester golf pro death as on-scene investigation concludes," KTTC, August 6, 2025.

³ "Family, police asking questions on what happened to Nathan Westergaard," Post Bulletin, August 11, 2025.

⁴ Sam Gillette, "Golf Pro’s Death Raised Questions After He Was Hit While Lying in Road. 2 Months Later, Death Ruled Accidental," People, October 24, 2025.

⁵ "CONTINUING COVERAGE: RGCC mourns death of assistant golf pro," KTTC, August 5, 2025.

⁶ "Rochester golf pro’s death ruled accident, death investigation concludes," KTTC, October 21, 2025.

⁷ Ibid.

⁸ "Accident or homicide? Medical rulings in arrest-related deaths can dictate what happens to police," Associated Press, December 18, 2024.

⁹ Gillette, People, October 24, 2025.