The Ocean City Police Department says the death of Ashley O’Connor was an accident.
The 30-year-old Texas woman was found on the beach in a hole near Second Street late last month.
The Salisbury Daily Times reports that the Medical Examiner found she died of asphyxiation after the sand closed in on her.
Police Chief Ross Buzzuro said that the 3-and-a-half foot hole could have collapsed around her that the tractors sifting the sand could have contributed to the collapse.
They are used to level the beach and keep it clean for the next day.
O’Connor on the beach around 2 a.m. and her body was not discovered until 6:30 a.m. around a foot and a half below the sand.
