Man, Woman & Baby found dead on 'park bench' in below-freezing temperatures

A homeless woman was found holding a dead baby at a Portland, Oregon bus stop, but this photograph does not show them.

On 17 January 2017, the Tribune reported a heartbreaking story: as the temperature there dipped below freezing, a homeless woman was discovered at a bus stop barefoot, clad in tattered clothes, and holding a dead baby, in Lincoln Park area:

The 34-year-old victim, identified by police sources as Jane Doe, discovered about 7 a.m., police said. Also the infant, found with her, Jan. 9, marks the fifth death on Chicago’s streets during the cold weather this year.

Four homeless people died of exposure in the first 10 days of 2017. A week after the baby was found, it’s still unclear whether he died of exposure hours after being born outdoors or was stillborn.

The meme about the woman and her baby also spread the claim that the baby froze to death and did not die from a cause unrelated to the cold, which has been debated. First responders had previously reported that the child was alive when it was found, but the state’s medical examiner said that the infant was actually stillborn:

First responders told colleagues in text messages that the baby was “conscious and breathing OK, but has been outside this entire time” and was “ice cold.” The child was “born in a transient camp,” one message said.

The baby was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead. Meanwhile, police said the infant’s 34-year-old mother showed signs of mental illness, telling investigators that she became pregnant by “immaculate conception.”

Although two emergency room doctors reportedly told investigators that the baby “appeared to ‘be viable,'” the state’s medical examiner, Dr. Karin Gunson, said the infant was stillborn after performing an autopsy.

An autopsy has been slated to determine how she died, cops said.

There are many factors to this story, none less tragic than any other — the fact that many people on the streets of Chicago IL (as in many parts of the United States) suffer from untreated mental illness; that this 9 January 2017 death was not the first of the year from possible exposure in the local homeless population, nor even the second, but the fifth; or that the mother of the dead baby is now nowhere to be found. However, this particular meme not only oversimplifies the issue, but uses a misleading photograph in order to do so.

The body of a man was found likely frozen to death Saturday morning, ostensibly the husband of said woman.

Chicago Police Lt. Justin Hudson Jr. said officers were in the area near 345 S. 500 West Cermak Rd. when they noticed a man sitting on a bench. When they approached, it appeared the man was dead.

"The cause of death is unknown, though there's speculation that it was due to weather," Hudson said, adding that police believe the man, whose name was not yet released, was homeless.

"Not many people sit on benches that early in the morning in that area unless they're homeless," he said.

The man was dressed warmly, but temperatures in the area reached -21 degrees, Saturday morning.

It was his final resting place.

A dead man was found sitting on a park bench in Saturday morning, officials said. The 57-year-old victim, identified by police sources as John Doe, discovered about 7 a.m., police said. Commuters on their way to work spotted Doe’s corpse on the bench and called police.

Man found dead just off a Chicago alley with stab wounds all over body Cops do not consider Doe's death to be suspicious, police sources said. He may have been intoxicated when he died, the sources said. An autopsy has been slated to determine how he died, cops said.

( Spokes gives it a mixed review as indicated in discussion. )

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