Two More Cold-Related Deaths Bring Season Total To 20

(STMW) -- Two more Cook County residents have died of cold-related causes, bringing the total this season to 20, officials said Wednesday.

Harvey D. Harmon, 53, was found lying in the 11200 block of South Vernon Avenue about 1:20 p.m. Jan. 12, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Harmon, who is homeless, was dead at the scene, authorities said. An autopsy found he died of hypothermia due to cold exposure and chronic ethanolism, the medical examiner's office said. His death was ruled an accident.

At 11:12 p.m. Tuesday, an unidentified man was found on a sidewalk in the 3100 block of South Laramie in Cicero, the medical examiner's office said. He was taken to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, where he died less than an hour later.

An autopsy showed he died of acute alcohol toxicity and cold exposure, and his death was also ruled an accident. He remains unidentified, described only as a white male in his 40s.

The deaths are the 19th and 20th confirmed cold-related fatalities this season in Cook County, according to the medical examiner's office. During the 2013-14 winter season, there were 32.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)