ST. LOUIS – For generations, the Busches of St. Louis were the first family of American beer-making, the city’s most devoted boosters, and bearers of the most famous name in town. But they have also been touched by scandal, tragedy and allegations of reckless behavior.

Now the Busch name is in the headlines again, this time after an aspiring young model was found dead in the gated home of August Busch IV, the former Anheuser-Busch CEO and heir to the Budweiser fortune. The death is under investigation.

The woman, Adrienne Nicole Martin, was Busch’s girlfriend and there was “absolutely nothing suspicious” about her death, said Busch’s attorney, Art Margulis.

The 27-year-old woman was dead when police and paramedics responded to a 911 call from Busch’s estate Sunday in Huntleigh, a wealthy St. Louis suburb. St. Louis County forensic administrator Suzanne McCune said there were no signs of trauma or illness, and an overdose was among the possible causes of death.

Busch IV, 46, joined the family business in the mid-1980s and worked his way up. He was chief of marketing when the brewer rolled out many of its most popular TV ads, including the Budweiser frogs.

When Busch IV took over as chief executive upon his father’s retirement in 2006, Anheuser-Busch owned roughly half the U.S. beer market. Two years later, Anheuser Busch Cos. was sold to Belgian company InBev for $52 billion.

Busch IV is a member of the InBev board but no longer has any role in day-to-day operations. InBev kept St. Louis as its U.S. headquarters after the merger, but many in St. Louis felt the region had lost an icon.

“Rightly or wrongly, it will always be recalled that he was the CEO when the company was sold,” said Terry Ganey, who co-wrote “Under the Influence: The Unauthorized Story of the Anheuser-Busch Dynasty.”

 

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