2 men die in St. Paul during week's bitter cold

Two men -- one a longtime resident of St. Paul's North End area and the other an Arizona man apparently living out of his car -- died this week in St. Paul as a result of the bitter cold, authorities said Thursday.

William Romell, 77, of St. Paul, was found dead next to his walker Tuesday morning in front of his W. Rose Avenue home.

He was last seen by friends Monday night, said Don Gorrie, a spokesman for the Ramsey County medical examiner's office. Friends said Romell had been out with them and had dropped them off, Gorrie said. But they were unable to reach him afterward.

Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard said Romell's body was found on a landing between two sets of stairs about 9:20 a.m. Tuesday by a neighbor who often shoveled Romell's sidewalk. It was not clear, Zaccard said, whether Romell had slipped and fallen.

"I'd wondered myself," he said.

Gorrie said Romell was dressed appropriately for the temperature, which dropped from 14 degrees about 7 p.m. Monday to minus 14 degrees about 9 a.m. Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.

Romell died of hypothermia, Gorrie said.

"He was barely conscious, mumbling to [paramedics]," he said, and suffering from "profound hypothermia."

Paramedics took him to Regions Hospital, where he died about two hours later.

Gorrie said that the cause of death appeared to be hypothermia, but that other tests were pending.

The victim was dressed, "but not overly dressed, as for that kind of weather," Zaccard said. According to the National Weather Service, it was 5 degrees below zero in St. Paul about 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Zaccard said a paramedic reported that the victim, whose name was being withheld Thursday pending notification of relatives, appeared to be living in the car.

"We didn't have a chance to talk to him, unfortunately," Zaccard said.