Missing Bridgeville Man Found in Edgewood Died of Hypothermia

Laurie McDonald, the 81-year-old elderly Bridgeville man who went missing Thursday in Wilkinsburg, died of hypothermia and hypertensive cardiovascular disease, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office said Wednesday afternoon.

McDonald was found dead Sunday afternoon over an embankment in a wooded area near the Edgewood Borough dump, located alongside the Parkway East, according to Edgewood police.

Allegheny County Homicide Unit and the medical examiner's office responded to the scene Sunday.

Bridgeville police Chief Chad King said McDonald left for a doctor’s appointment in Homewood on Thursday and apparently got lost on his way home. He somehow ended up on an access road near the Digital building on the Wilkinsburg/Forest Hills border and either crashed his car or got stuck in the mud, King said.

McDonald then called his wife around 9 p.m. Thursday to say he saw a gas station and planned to walk through a wooded area to get assistance. Wilkinsburg police found the car around 9:30 p.m. and had it towed.

McDonald’s wife contacted Bridgeville police around 3 a.m. Friday to report that he was missing.

Police from many east suburban police departments spent most of Friday searching for him with K-9 units in the area around Ardmore Boulevard and Brinton Road.

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