The Cook County medical examiner’s office has been unable to determine what killed a man who was found dead in a van in Uptown earlier this year.
A man called police to the 4500 block of North Marine Drive on the afternoon of May 15 when he noticed a foul smell coming from the Chevy van, which was parked next to Clarendon Park.
Investigators forced their way into the van and found a severely decomposed male body surrounded by personal effects.
The medical examiner and Area North detectives launched a death investigation. This week, the medical examiner’s office said it could not determine what killed the man nor could it determine the manner of the man’s death. No age or race is listed for the man in the medical examiner’s online records.
The van was registered to a man who used an Andersonville UPS Store as a mailing address. A clerk at the store said the man had not picked up his deliveries since December. Residents who live near the park told CWBChicago in May that they believed the man had been living out of the van for several years.