Coroner: Heat blamed in southwestern Ill. death

GRANITE CITY — The sweltering summer temperatures that have gripped the Midwest were blamed Monday in the suspected heat-stroke death of a 51-year-old man in southwestern Illinois.

Madison County Coroner Stephen Nonn said Mitsunari Uechi's mother found him on the floor of his Granite City mobile home shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday. Uechi was pronounced dead about a half hour later at a hospital.

The home's air conditioner was not working, and his body temperature was 104 degrees when he arrived at the hospital, Nonn said.

Temperatures in the area Sunday had been stifling, with temperatures reaching 93 degrees in Alton, just north of Granite City, National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Sieveking said. That area's heat index — a combination of heat and humidity — made temperatures feel like 114 degrees, Sieveking said.

Uechi had some chronic medical problems that made him more vulnerable to heat-related stress than his mother, Nonn said, declining to specify Uechi's other medical issues.

An autopsy Monday did not uncover anything other than heat stroke that might explain the death, Nonn said. Lab screenings of Uechi's blood for any presence of alcohol or drugs are pending.

The St. Louis region remained under a heat advisory Monday, when the temperatures were expected to reach or perhaps top 100 degrees, with the heat-index soaring to 110 to 116 degrees.

The sizzle was expected to ease only slightly late Tuesday or early Wednesday with the arrival of a cold front that could bring thunderstorms with it through Thursday, Sieveking said.

High temperatures across the region Wednesday and Thursday were to slip to the upper 80s and low 90s before the swelter returns over the weekend, when thermometer readings could return to the mid- to upper 90s.

Noting the dangers of such heat, Nonn cautioned the public to seek out air conditioning when possible, stay hydrated with beverages that don't have caffeine or alcohol, and be vigilant about the heat's effect on others, most notably the very young, the elderly and the overweight.

"Now would be a good time to check on relatives and neighbors who may not seek out the help they need," Nonn said.

Uechi's funeral arrangements are pending.