OHIO — A man was found dead early Thursday morning inside a tent near a homeless camp in Youngstown, marking the second time this month that a person has been found dead outdoors during extreme cold conditions.
According to police reports, officers were dispatched around 12:45 a.m. after a 911 caller reported that a man staying in a nearby tent was found slumped over and appeared to be dead. When officers arrived, they located the man inside the tent with his body covered in frost.
The caller told police he had last seen the man alive two nights earlier. Authorities noted that temperatures earlier in the week were dangerously cold. Data from the National Weather Service shows temperatures ranged from 1 degree above zero at midnight Tuesday to 0 degrees by 8 a.m.
Due to snow- and ice-covered terrain, police requested assistance from the Street Department, which provided a rope to help recover the man’s body from a hill near the campsite.
An autopsy will be conducted to determine the official cause of death. Police said foul play is not suspected.
The death follows a similar incident earlier this month. Around 12:40 p.m. on Jan. 6, a 65-year-old man was found dead among trash receptacles in the double-digit block of Wick Avenue. Reports indicated the man appeared to have been sleeping on a piece of foam, with a makeshift pillow nearby. National Weather Service data showed temperatures ranging from minus 2 degrees on Jan. 5 to minus 5 degrees on Jan. 6. Foul play was not suspected in that case.
The Mahoning County Coroner’s Office, along with city detectives in Youngstown, is investigating both deaths.
