University of Vermont student found dead in snow after taking apparent shortcut, police say
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A 19-year-old student at the University of Vermont was found dead in the snow Saturday on one of the coldest Groundhog Days in decades, becoming the second college student to die in a week in frigid temperatures.
The Burlington Police Department said in a news release that authorities responded to a business in Burlington around 10:48 a.m. to a report of "an unresponsive male lying in the snow in the back parking lot of a business."
First responders attempted to resuscitate the 19-year-old "without success," and pronounced him dead at the scene.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}POLAR VORTEX VICTIMS INCLUDE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA STUDENT, EX-CITY COUNCILMAN, POLICE OFFICER AND WIFE
"Our initial investigation suggests no indications of foul play," Burlington Police said on Twitter.
The student, who was identified on Sunday as 19-year-old Connor Gage of Little Falls, New York, was apparently cutting through the parking lot during the early morning hours on Saturday when he was stopped by a fence.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Exposure to cold seems to have been a cause or significant contributing factor,” police said.
19-year-old Connor Gage of Little Falls, New York was found dead on Saturday outside a business in Burlington, Vermont. (Facebook)
The temperature was between minus 1 degree and negative 4 degrees at the time, police said.
A student at the University of Vermont was found dead in the snow behind a business after taking an apparent shortcut and getting stopped by a fence. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The National Weather Service's Burlington Office said the temperature dipped to minus 5 degrees on Saturday, which was the coldest temperature on Groundhog Day since 1993, when it hit negative 8 degrees.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Burlington Police said that the bitter cold, along with "clothing that was inadequate to the weather," is believed to have contributed to the man's death.
"Our investigation continues with regard to the male's condition and whereabouts in the hours prior to his death," police said.
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA STUDENT DIES DURING POLAR VORTEX
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Deputy Chief Murad told the Burlington Free Press that investigators cannot confirm or deny the influence of alcohol or drugs at this time and that an autopsy was ordered.
Gage, who was set to graduate in 2022, was majoring in Neuroscience, according to an email sent to the campus community by UVM Vice Provost for Student Affairs Annie Stevens.
The University of Vermont is offering counseling services to those affected.
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The death in Vermont comes less than a week after a pre-med student at the University of Iowa was found frozen behind an academic building on the Iowa City campus during the onslaught of the polar vortex.
Gerald Belz, 18, was found just before 3 a.m. on Wednesday. The pre-med student was rushed to a hospital, where he later died.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Police haven’t released a cause of death, but believed the frigid temperatures played a role, FOX28 Cedar Rapids reported. The wind chill at the time police found Belz was minus 51 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
Belz's father, Michael, told CBS2/FOX 28 that authorities told them that "zero alcohol was found in his system."
Fox News' Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.