A Royal Military College cadet's body may not have been in the Cataraqui River the entire time he was missing, an inquest heard Monday.

In his testimony to the inquest's jury, Dr. David Hurlbut, the pathologist who performed the first autopsy on Joe Grozelle's remains, estimated the 21-year-old's body would have been underwater between one and two weeks before being recovered.

"That would be my best estimate," Hurlbut said at an inquiry being held to determine the circumstances under which Grozelle died.

Grozelle disappeared from his dorm on Oct. 22, 2003. His body was found three weeks later, on Nov. 13, 2003.

Hurlbut said he arrived at his conclusion by observing the state of decomposition on Grozelle's body. He repeated the estimate to Bruce Carr-Harris, the Grozelle family's lawyer, during cross-examination.

Hurlbut told Kingston police lawyer Brian Abrams that none of his findings were "inconsistent" with the idea that Grozelle could have been underwater the whole time.

After the inquest wrapped up for the day, the cadet's father, Ron Grozelle, alluded to upcoming witnesses who would testify about "whether Joe was around or not." He would not elaborate.

Tests for foul play not performed during autopsy

The jury also learned that Hurlbut did not perform several customary tests done on suspected victims of violence during the autopsy.

When Dr. David Eden, the presiding coroner, asked Hurlbut if he would have done anything differently had he been informed that foul play might be a factor, Hurlbut listed off a number of procedures.

"I didn't do them," he said. "I received no specific information that indicated a suspicion of foul play."

Last Thursday, the inquest heard testimony from Dr. Michael Pollanen, a forensic pathologist who did a second autopsy on Grozelle about a year after he was buried.

He said a deep red mark on Grozelle's upper lip and a chipped tooth could signify an injury sustained before death.

Hurlbut was also questioned on his May 2004 assertion that Grozelle died due to "asphysxia secondary to drowning," the only cause of death ever rendered in the case.

That assertion was later retracted in Hurlbut's final autopsy report that July, but he still listed drowning as a probable cause.

"There was a small degree of doubt and I still have some doubt," Hurlbut said. "I'm not comfortable saying this was consistent with drowning."

Two more pathologists and a provincial police investigator were to take the stand Tuesday.