City employee found dead in basement of O’Hare facility

Police are investigating the death of a city employee found Tuesday morning in the basement of the heating and cooling plant at O’Hare International Airport.

Someone discovered the body of a 53-year-old Michael O’Malley on the ground near an electric Cushman service cart in the 400 block of West O’Hare Street, according to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The Chicago Dept. of Aviation confirmed that one of their employees was fatally injured Tuesday morning at O’Hare’s heating and cooling plant.

Officers responded about 5:55 a.m. and found the man without any apparent signs of trauma but with blood nearby, police said. An ambulance was called and he was pronounced dead on scene.

Autopsy results were pending Wednesday afternoon, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

City records show that O’Malley was a full-time electrical mechanic with the CDA. He lived in Jefferson Park on the Northwest Side, the medical examiner’s office said.

Police were conducting a non-criminal death investigation, and were awaiting autopsy results, a police spokesperson said.