Nineteen-year-old Connor Gage from Little Falls, New York, was attending his first year at the University of Vermont. But on Feb. 2, he was found dead off campus, in below zero temperatures.
The Burlington Police stated in a tweet that the frigid temperature “seems to have been a cause or significant contributing factor.” Along with the tweet was a letter from Annie Stevens, the Vice Provost for Student Affairs at the university.
According to the police report, both the Burlington Police Department and the Burlington Fire Department received the report of an unconscious male lying in the snow at 10:48 a.m. Once they arrived, they found Gage’s body in a business’s rear parking lot and attempted to resuscitate him, but were unsuccessful.
Blame it on the Cold
Early in the morning, Gage tried to cut through the business’s parking lot as a shortcut to the university but was blocked by the fence, according to the press release. No indications of foul play have been found in the investigation.
Gage was found with “clothing inadequate to the temperature.” Currently, the police are investigating the details of Gage’s whereabouts prior to his death.
In the university’s message to its community, a brief description was given of Gage, and the university also extended its deepest condolences to his family.
University of Iowa Student Found Frozen
Gerald Belz—just one year younger than Gage, and attending his second year—froze to death on Jan. 30, a few days before Gage’s death. Belz’s body was found outside of the university’s residence hall at 2:48 a.m.The temperature was 22 degrees below zero, with a wind chill of 51 degrees below zero, at the time of his death, reported the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Hypothermia can happen in less than five minutes in temperatures like these if the person isn’t properly clothed.
