A man holding up a sign stating he is 'homeless, hungry and cold' sits along 7th avenue in New York January 8, 2015. During extreme cold, city officials put into effect "Code Blue" emergency measures, to get thousands of homeless people off the streets and into warm shelters. © REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
(Ann Arbor, MI) – The deadly cold snap that set in just before January’s massive winter storm has claimed the lives of more than a half dozen New Yorkers, and killed at least 25 nationwide. A massive storm that buried most of the US under snow and ice has proven to be deadly due to the arctic temperatures. And now a college student has died due to the dangerous cold, in Michigan.
The University of Michigan has confirmed the death of 19-year-old Lucas Mattson, who went missing after he attended a frat party last Friday. Reports say Mattson was seen leaving the party around 1:00 AM — wearing only a tee-shirt and jeans. Temperatures dropped as low as zero degrees, giving the teen little chance of survival with such little clothing.
Identified by meteorologists as either Winter Storm Fern or Winter Storm Benjamin, the official numbers say 34 people have been killed by the cold. Around the Tri-state, officials have enacted “Code Blue” in order to try and get homeless people off the streets and indoors.
By 4:30 PM on Friday afternoon, Mattson had been reported missing, according to the Ann Arbor Police Department.
A nearly 20-hour search unfolded after Mattson was discovered missing, during bone-chilling cold. Local cops, the University of Michigan Division of Public Safety and Security, and the University of Michigan Police Department Drone Unit all took part in the effort. Eventually Mattson was found either Saturday night, or around noon Sunday, along Cambridge Road. Unable to survive the “extreme cold conditions,” Ann Arbor police also say “There were no signs of trauma and foul play is not suspected at this time.”
University of Michigan interim president Domenico Grasso released a statement: “At this time, we can share that prior to disappearing, Lucas was attending a party at a fraternity house as a guest; he was neither a member nor a pledge.” He also cautioned against the spreading of what he called “misinformation,” urging the school community “must let the investigators complete their work and refrain from speculation until the facts are known.”
Grasso says he’s asked school officials to retrace the events of the night so as to “better understand what transpired and identify possible steps to help prevent similar tragedies in the future.” The school president also expressed gratitude: “I am grateful for the outpouring of support from so many people worried about Lucas’s welfare, including those who searched for him in extremely difficult weather conditions.”
The Washtenaw County Medical Examiner’s office will conduct an autopsy on Mattson’s body to determine the cause of death.
