Coroner: Homeless man in Durango died from hypothermia

DURANGO, Colo. (AP) - A homeless man whose body was found at a campsite behind a Walmart in Durango died from hypothermia.

The Durango Herald reports 57-year-old Dean Allen Littrell was found wrapped in a tarp the morning of Nov. 10. He had been living at the makeshift campsite along the Animas River for at least three months.

Friends say he had been drinking the night before he was found dead, but La Plata County Coroner Jann Smith said that won’t be confirmed until toxicology results come back in about four weeks.

Smith said there was a tent and a sleeping bag at the campsite, but the tent was not set up and Littrell was not in the sleeping bag when he was found dead.

Richard Dilworth, an advocate for the homeless community in Durango, described Littrell as someone who “was always looking out for people, making sure everyone was OK.”

“He was very much someone you looked forward to seeing,” Dilworth said.