Death of transient highlights dangers of cold

OGDEN — Steven Michael Holbrook was found on the second floor of this abandoned building on busy Washington Boulevard.

He was lying on a thin foam mattress. A coat and a hat were his only protection from the extremely cold temperatures. It wasn't nearly enough.

"It looks like he just laid down and went to sleep and didn't wake up," Ogden Police Lt. Scott Sangberg said Thursday.

Police believe the cold may have contributed to the death of Holbrook, 44, whose body was found Wednesday afternoon in the boarded-up building at 2314 Washington Blvd. Officers said it appears he'd pried away some of the boards to get in to seek shelter.

"He's a local transient-type individual who has been in and out of jail," Sangberg said. "In fact, he had a citation in his pocket out of Riverdale for something."

Police and homeless advocates say Holbrook's death didn't have to happen, and as the state continues to endure sub-freezing temperatures, authorities fear there may be more deaths.

"It's really unfortunate," said Jennifer Canter, who runs the St. Anne's shelter near Wall Avenue and Binford Street. "There are places he could have gone."

The cold temperatures have been bringing in the homeless. All 106 beds at St. Anne's have been taken for the past week. Canter has made room by letting people sleep in the hallways and in the lobby. If it gets worse, she's not afraid to open up the cafeteria to sleep 20 to 30 more people.

No matter how bad it gets, some people still refuse to come in from the cold.

"It's freezing," said Ron Hinkley, who stood outside St. Anne's on Thursday afternoon.

His hands buried deep into his pockets, he said he has two coats on. St. Anne's doesn't let him loiter inside during the day. He says he's now staying at an apartment, but for the past 10 years, the shelter was his home.

"We used to go out to vacant houses," he said. "In the summertime, we'd go down to the river."

Many people won't stay in the shelter. Part of it is the transient lifestyle, police say, but another part of it is mental-health issues.

"They don't like the structured life," Sangberg said. "They don't like people telling them what to do."

Canter agrees, citing the shelter's rules about doors closing at 8 p.m. and not letting people go outside even for a cigarette. Still, she is willing to bend the rules every now and then.