Police have identified the two men found dead on the morning of Wednesday, April 16 next to the exit ramp for northbound I-295.
D.C. police received information about an unresponsive male off the exit ramp at 9:09 a.m. Wednesday morning, a police spokesman said.
Another man was found 50 feet away, Police arrived at the homeless encampment next to the exit ramp.
One man has been identified as Anthony Thomas, 62, and the other as Robert Shafley, 57.
Authorities believe both men succumbed to hypothermia sometime during the night of Tuesday, April 15 or early on Wednesday, April 16.
Temperatures early Wednesday morning dropped into the 20’s, according to a weather report published by the Washington Post. A hypothermia alert had been issued by city human services and emergency management officials and city shelters were open when the men died.
The two were the latest lives possibly claimed by cold temperatures in the District in recent months. Over the course of the winter, three people believed to be homeless were found dead out of doors, according to a newly-released draft report on the 2013-2014 hypothermia season compiled by Coalition of Housing and Homeless Organizations. Two homeless people who stayed in shelters also died during the winter, according to the report.
