Elderly man dies from cold exposure after collapsing outside Thursday night
An elderly Newell man died outside his house overnight Thursday into Friday morning.
Lewis Sweitzer Sr., 95, of 703 Third St., was pronounced dead at 10:32 a.m. Friday, after state police arrived at his home to investigate the death, according to Fayette County coroner, Dr. Phillip Reilly.
Reilly said the man had lived alone. On Thursday, his son had taken him shopping, to a doctor’s visit and to dinner, Reilly said. They returned around 8 p.m.
“It’s believed that sometime between 8 p.m. and midnight, he left the house again,” Reilly said. “When we discovered him, he was wearing different clothes than what he had on that day.”
Sweitzer left the house for an unknown reason in plain clothes and slippers, Reilly said. He collapsed outside and was found the next morning at the base of a chain-link fence near his house. Reilly said it’s believed that he collapsed and tried to use the fence to pull himself back up, causing scrapes and abrasions on his arms, legs and feet.
“He was scuffed up, but there was no obvious lethal trauma,” Reilly said. “There’s no suspicion of foul play. He couldn’t get himself back up, and he didn’t have a medical alert necklace or a cellphone on him when we found him.”
Sweitzer’s death was determined to be accidental and caused by cold exposure, Reilly said.
“It was under 25 degrees for several hours that night,” Reilly said.
Eley-McCrory Funeral Home in Fayette City is handling service arrangements for Sweitzer. According to his obituary, Sweitzer was a U.S. Army World War II veteran and a retired steelworker with Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel.