Following the release of the coroner’s report on Thursday, the identity of the deceased man at Campus Edge Apartments has been revealed.
Mark Christie, 54, died of natural causes several days before his body was discovered by responders on Tuesday. Christie was found in his apartment and was suspected to have died sometime over the weekend according to Chief of Police Terry Fedokovitz. No evidence of foul play or suicide was found upon investigation.
“All we can assume is that the deceased died of natural causes,” Fedokovitz said. “There was no evidence of drug use or suicide associated with this particular incident.”
The Slippery Rock Borough Police Department had trouble contacting members of Christie’s family according to Fedokovitz, which led to the delay in releasing the identity of the deceased. Borough Police were only initially able to contact Christie’s ex-wife before reaching other members of his family.
Fedokovitz said that all of the rumors of sex trafficking or foul play were false.
“I just want to dispel some of the rumors that have been spread on Twitter,” Fedokovitz said. “All reports of the deceased being killed by sex traffickers were completely false.”
No official autopsy was conducted, so there is no official cause of death according to Fedokovitz. Reports indicate that a strong odor was detected by residents in the area of Christie’s apartment. Campus Edge resident Trevor Blose said on Wednesday that he had noticed an odor since late Saturday or early Sunday. It can be assumed that Christie died of natural causes and had been deceased for several days according to Fedokovitz.
“It was obvious that he had been deceased for quite some time,” Fedokovitz said. “It can be safely assumed that he passed away sometime over the weekend.”
