A group of friends gathered to watch football in Kansas City, Mo., earlier this month. Then, on a Tuesday evening, one of them received a call.
It was the police. They told him that his friends apparently never left his house – that they were found dead in his own backyard.
USA Today said a spokesperson with Forensic Medical of Kansas confirmed the dead as 38-year-old Ricky Johnson, 37-year-old David Harrington and 36-year-old and Clayton McGeeney.
“He had no knowledge they remained in his backyard or that they needed medical attention. Had he known, he certainly would have called for help,” said the man’s Kansas City-based lawyer, John Picerno, according to USA Today. The outlet said it is not naming the man since he has not been arrested or charged with a crime. Picerno, identified the man as a 38-year-old scientist who works remotely for a New York hospital.
For the Jan. 7 Kansas City Chiefs game against the Los Angeles Chargers, the man had four people over, including the three deceased men. He had known two of them since high school and the other for several years.
Picerno said that his client last saw his friends before he went to bed during the early morning hours of Jan. 8. After sleeping with airbuds in and a loud fan on for most of Monday, the client did some remote work from home and then went to bed again. He also worked from home Tuesday.
“He does not know the timing or manner of their deaths, nor does he know how or when they exited his house,” said Picerno.
It wasn’t until the fiancé of one of the victims visited the home to check on him and called authorities after finding a body on the back porch. Police then found the other two men.
“Although police said foul play is not suspected in their deaths, officials from multiple agencies have been working to determine how the men died,” said USA Today. Citing the National Weather Service, the outlet said the low temperature on Jan. 7 was 29 degrees.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even though hypothermia – abnormally low body temperature – it can also occur at temperatures above 40 degrees “if a person becomes chilled from rain, sweat, or submersion in cold water.”
Picerno said his client is “anxiously awaiting” to learn what caused the death of his friends.
“Last week, a medical examiner spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY autopsies and toxicology tests were conducted on all three men and the results were pending,” said the outlet. Police spokeswoman Alayna Gonzalez said Tuesday that the department “was still waiting to learn the trio’s cause of death from the medical examiner.”