A man found dead last month in in the South Loop has been confirmed as Cook County’s eighth cold-related death of the season.
David Gilligan, 59, was pronounced dead just after 3 p.m. Nov. 15 in the 1300 block of South Canal Street, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. He lived in Wisconsin Rapids.
Officers found him unresponsive underneath a trailer behind a grocery store, Chicago police said. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
The man died as a result of cold exposure with cardiovascular disease and ethanol intoxication as contributing factor, the medical examiner’s office said.
Seven other cold-related deaths were reported in Cook County so far this season.
A 64-year-old man died Nov. 29 in north suburban Des Plaines as a result of cold exposure with cardiovascular disease as a contributing factor, the medical examiner’s office said.
On Nov. 15, a 31-year-old man died in Austin from cocaine toxicity with cold exposure as a contributing factor, the medical examiner’s office said. That same day, a 74-year-old man died in Park Manor as a result of chronic ethanolism with cold exposure, dementia and hypertensive cardiovascular disease as contributing factors.
A 56-year-old man died Nov. 11 in Garfield Park of cardiovascular disease with cold exposure as a contributing factor, the medical examiner’s office said.
On Oct. 27, a 70-year-old man died in Logan Square, while another man 54, died five days earlier in Oak Forest, the medical examiner’s office said. Cold exposure was a contributing factor in their deaths.
A homeless man who died Nov. 1 in Avondale was the first death to be ruled cold-related by investigators this season, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Last season, the medical examiner’s office recorded 60 deaths in Cook County related to the cold between Sept. 14, 2018, and May 23, 2019.
The fatalities ranged in age between 12 and 93, according to medical examiner’s office data. Three of the cold-related deaths came during January’s polar vortex.
