7th cold-related death of the season in Cook County reported in Park Manor

A man found dead last month in Park Manor on the South Side has been confirmed as Cook County’s seventh cold-related death of the season.

The 74-year-old man was pronounced dead at 2:25 p.m. Nov. 15 in the 6600 block of South Michigan Avenue, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

A neighbor found the man face down and unresponsive in the back yard of a home, Chicago police said. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

He died died as a result of chronic ethanolism with cold exposure, dementia and hypertensive cardiovascular disease as contributing factors, the medical examiner’s office said. His death was ruled an accident.

Six 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.

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.