Police are investigating the death of a 51-year-old man found behind a business on North Main Street early Tuesday morning, as temperatures plunged to dangerous lows.
Barre City officers were called to the rear of a property in the 400 block of North Main Street around 6 a.m. on December 9 for a report of a deceased individual. Responding officers located Richard Govea, 51, of Barre, who police said was known to be unhoused.
According to investigators, Govea appeared to be in a condition consistent with paradoxical undressing, a phenomenon sometimes associated with severe hypothermia. Overnight temperatures in Barre had dropped to roughly 17 degrees below zero, police said, and hypothermia is considered a possible factor in his death.
According to the National Institute of Health, paradoxical undressing is associated with severe alcoholism and “might be explained by changes in peripheral vasoconstriction in the deeply hypothermic person. It represents the last effort of the victim and is followed almost immediately by unconsciousness and death.”
Govea’s body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for an autopsy to determine the exact cause and manner of death. The incident remains under investigation.
Police noted that during extreme cold snaps, a low-barrier shelter is available in Barre City and is publicized through local media and outreach efforts. They urged anyone experiencing homelessness—or those concerned about someone lacking shelter—to contact service providers during dangerous weather conditions.
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Categories: Police Reports, Weather
God rest this poor man’s soul but the incident shows that no matter how much public resources are spent to provide even a low-barrier (non-sober) shelter, that unless there are some ICE-style troops that patrol the streets to make sure no one is sleeping outside, there will be some people who lack the sense or the sobriety to make their way to that shelter. This is obviously going to renew the efforts by advocates to fully restore the free motel program or other forms of semi-permanent housing for individuals, which the taxpayers of Vermont cannot afford.
May he RIP…I have a story about alcohol and bitter cold temps. When I was about 18 I worked as a logger and lived a few miles up on the hill from town and didn’t drink much ,or hard, but one Friday night, I whooped it up at the VT House, and closing time, I had to hoof it up Ray Hill to my cabin at 20 below. I was tired and drunk but felt not too drunk and it was a fine night, snows were deep ,stars were out, air crisp and good and I was quite taken by the beauty of the snows reflecting the starlight ,sparkling like a million little diamonds, and the snow looked so soft, and welcoming, so about 3/4th the way home I went in the field and lay in the snow looking at the stars, feeling enveloped in a nice soft warmth, and drifted off to sleep, then woke up think how pretty the stars looked, then suddenly thought to myself…”Wait a minute, I am lying in the snow at 20 below feeling wonderful!” and jerked awake, rushed home to my cabin and fired up the Ashley stove realizing how close I just came to dying so the moral of my story is…NEVER mix booze and zub zero temps and walking home at 20 below. It can happen that easily and quick and you really feel good while it happens. Be Yee Warned.
William, I was curious after reading your story if you had any strange dreams of walking with someone and not wanting to finish the journey?
Homelessness people don’t have access to social media or announcements. That’s why it’s so important it is for our reach especially during Vermont winters. It has to do with exposure bot temperatures you can get hypothermia at 45 degrees if aren’t geared up for it. The only difference is how long it takes you to die.
They should take my little story,copy it and tape it on the wall of every shelter in VT for the downtrodden to read…might save a life or two or three.
A tragic story.
But to lead with that headline seems odd and frankly, misleading.
Perhaps it could have been: “Homeless Barre Man Freezes to Death,” and then introduced this esoteric term and explained it in the body of the article instead of leading with it.
Martin, I thought the most startling thing in this story was the paradoxical undressing – that’s why it made the lead. It’s a judgement call
if anyone read Into Thin Air, for some odd reason, when you’re frozen and near the end, hypothermia sets in and you want to take your cloths off, it’s not uncommon when freezing to death.
Thanks, Guy.
Thanks again, Guy. I do trust your judgment, and much more profoundly, thank you for the excellent, diligent, and heroic work you have done and continue to do with and through VDC.
Please accept my sincere apologies for replying too hastily.
I should have taken more time to fully understand this concept—which I had never heard before and which you went on to explain in the article—before I criticized your headline and, therefore, your judgment. I am humbled and stand corrected.
The quality and value of your work for Vermont and your readers is inestimable, and I never again want to fall into the trap of armchair quarterbacking, and even more especially in light of your generosity and graciousness.
Blessings,
Martin