Coroner working to determine if man found in Springfield shed froze to death

UPDATE @ 9:15 p.m.: A 57-year-old man was found dead in a storage shed in Springfield more than a week ago and the Clark County Coroner's Office is working to determine whether he froze to death as a result of the storm that hit the region the weekend of Jan. 18.

Robert Pinkerton was found in the shed late on Sunday, Jan. 20.

“He was homeless and it was a very cold night,” a coroner’s investigator said.

The investigator said the office can’t say for sure at this point whether Pinkerton froze to death. They’ll need an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death. That preliminary determination could be another four to five weeks, the investigator said.

Melissa Peak, who said she met “Bob” in the parking lot of a Speedway when she first moved to Springfield, hopes his death will serve as a wake-up call to the city.

“No one deserves to die alone -- freezing,” Peak told WHIO-TV’s Sean Cudahy on Monday night. “It could have been prevented.”

Peak said she came to befriend Bob, offered him help and invited him to the place where she feeds the homeless.

“He never begged or panhandled,” she said.”He never asked for anything. He didn’t want to take from anyone.”

Peak said she became worried the weekend of Jan. 18 when she hadn’t heard from or seen him lately, and that’s when she received a call that Pinkerton had been found in a shed, in a city neighborhood.

>>RELATED: Winter storm was forecast for the region Jan 18-20

A winter storm warning was in effect for the entire region, which includes Clark County, the weekend of Jan. 18-20. The storm system brought accumulating, blowing and drifting snow to the area, Storm Center 7 Chief Meteorologist McCall Vrydaghs said the week of the storm.

Storm Center 7 was calling for 6 to 8 inches of snow and ice accumulations of about 0.1 to 0.2 inches along and north of Interstate 70, including Springfield and Bellefontaine.

>> RELATED: Snow totals from Jan. 18-20 winter storm

Peak said she believes Springfielders don’t realize how big the homeless population is.

“We need to come together.... We can come together and reach out to these people. I hope this is an eye-opener... that this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” she said.

WHIO-TV’s Sean Cudahy @SCudahyWHIO will have more tonight at 11.