Blizzard Deaths: At Least Nine Dead In Snow-Related Fatalities

While reports were still coming in Thursday morning, at least nine people appear to have died as a result of the massive blizzard that struck the Chicago area this week.

As yet, news reports only mention two deaths in the city proper. Peter Davis, age 60, fell into Lake Michigan near Diversey Harbor, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Police received a call around midnight Tuesday night, reporting that someone had possible fallen in. After hours of searching, they found a hat floating near a dock around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, and divers were deployed to find the body.

Officials say he may have fallen in after becoming disoriented in the snow.

The other Chicago fatality was an apparently homeless man, found in an alley in Logan Square. He is still unidentified.

This morning, 46-year-old John Carson was found dead in his South Side home, where there was no heat working, according to a CBS report. But authorities haven't yet confirmed that his death was due to the cold.

Elsewhere in the area, Matthew Tayler, a 17-year-old from rural Newton County, Indiana, died in his car, as did his still-unidentified passenger, when a semi-tractor lost control in the snow and slammed into them. Tayler's mother told police that the other man in the car was a 43-year-old stranger whom Tayler had offered a ride, the Tribune reports.

Three men in suburban areas died of heart attacks while shoveling snow. One, Andrew Berg, lost his life trying to walk a mile from his stranded car back to his home. Still another, in Grayslake, died in his car, stranded on U.S. 45.

The Tribune quotes an emergency room doctor at the University of Chicago Medical Center, Dr. David Beiser, saying, "it's reasonable to expect that the numbers [of deaths] will rise in the next 24 hours."