Local man freezes to death in car

A Columbia Falls man who was living in his car was found frozen to death early Monday morning. Jeffery Tolson, 56, was found severely hypothermic without a pulse in his car about 6 a.m. Monday morning by Columbia Falls Police officer Craig McConnell in the parking lot of Cardinal True Value Hardware.

According to the police report, McConnell had brought Tolson some coffee and food, but when he opened the door, Tolson’s hands were very cold and he didn’t have a pulse.

McConnell called Three Rivers Ambulance and they were able to detect a heartbeat. They transported Tolson to North Valley Hospital, but he died about 10 a.m. Tolson had been using an electric blanket that plugged into the cigarette lighter to stay warm, but the car battery had died. There were no signs of alcohol, drugs or foul play, said Police Chief Dave Perry. The temperature that night dropped to 5 degrees at Glacier Park International Airport, according to the National Weather Service.

Tolson was a logger and apparently had fallen on hard times and was living out of his vehicle until he could get work.