A man found dead in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood on Saturday is Cook County’s 37th cold-exposure related death since the start of the season.
The 64-year-old was found about 11:30 a.m. in the 6100 block of South Artesian Avenue, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He was pronounced dead at the scene, Chicago police said.
A witness told investigators that he had not seen the man for a couple days, police said.
An autopsy found he died from cold exposure with heart disease, alcoholism and diabetes as contributing factors, the medical examiner’s office said. The death was ruled an accident.
His identity has not been released by the medical examiner’s office.
Last fall and winter, 47 deaths were found to be at least partially cold-related between Oct. 1, 2017, and April 1, 2018, according to the medical examine’s office. More than 250 people have died of cold-related causes in Cook County since 2006.
