Police have given another update regarding the mysterious deaths of three Kansas City Chiefs fans who were found frozen in a backyard earlier this month.
As we reported, Ricky Johnson, David Harrington, and Clayton McGeeney were found dead in the backyard of a home that their friend, Jordan Willis, rented out earlier this month. The friends were gathered together for a watch party for the Chiefs game on January 7, however, it wasn’t until January 9 that the bodies were discovered.
Willis claims he went to bed late on January 7 and did not wake up for two days, so he did not know his friends remained at the home.
Kansas City Chiefs Fans Case Remains A Death Investigation
When the news first broke, Captain Jake Becchina of the Kansas City Police Department said the “case is 100% NOT being investigated as a homicide.”
And it seems that is still the case today as Alayna Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City Police Department, said “This still remains a death investigation and nothing more.”
“We still have no evidence or indication of foul play, no one is in police custody,” she added in a statement to PEOPLE.
Willis’s attorney previously said that his client “is unaware of how his friends died” and is “anxiously awaiting the results of the autopsy and toxicology report.” Jordan Willis is the friend who rented the home and is the only member of the friend group who was found alive.
Friends and Family Of Victims Speak Out
After the victims were identified, family members and friends demanded answers, claiming Willis’s story “doesn’t add up.”
“Just the thought of him dying and them him sitting outside in the cold for two days,” Caleb McGeeney, the cousin of one of the deceased said, per FOX. “It’s extremely devastating, the whole family is messed up. He was such a good person.”
Jonathan Price, who is related to victim Ricky Johnson, also spoke out, claiming something more than alcohol played a part in their deaths.
“If I were to give a hypothesis… for the three men to die in the way that they did, something had to have been in their system,” Price said, adding, “Whether or not it was taken knowingly, I wouldn’t answer that.”
He went on to say, “But something was taken because three grown men do not freeze to death at the temperatures that were there at the time with just alcohol involved.”
Drugs Could Have Played A Part In Mysterious Deaths Of Chiefs Fans
Dr. Caleb Alexander, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, also gave his insight into the case, stating it is “plausible” that drugs played a part in the deaths.
“It certainly could be consistent with opioids, benzodiazepines, antihistamines, barbiturates, muscle relaxants,” he said, adding, “There are dozens of potential prescription drugs that when combined with alcohol could cause a level of sedation that would lead to ultimately freezing to death.”
There have been no arrests relating to the case at this time. The cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner.
