Benedicta man found frozen to death in snow

BENEDICTA – A disabled man whose pickup truck became stuck in deep snow in his driveway froze to death sometime late Sunday or early Monday as he tried to walk back to his home.

Charles S. Qualey, 53, was found less than 25 feet from his mobile home on the Benedicta Road shortly after 10 a.m. Monday by a neighbor who had come to offer his help in getting Qualey’s truck out of the snow.

Qualey lived alone and had a disability that required him to use two canes to walk.

He last was seen sometime between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. Sunday by his sister as he drove by her house, Aroostook County Sheriff’s Deputy Rudy Levesque said Tuesday.

The next morning, a neighbor saw Qualey’s truck off the driveway and stuck in the snow.

The man was going to Qualey’s trailer when he saw something sticking out of the snow. He brushed it off and discovered it was the body of Qualey on his back.

Levesque said it appeared that after Qualey’s truck got stuck, he attempted to walk to his trailer. While doing so he apparently either slipped or lost one of the two canes he needed, fell and could not get up.

His body was found 162 feet from the truck, the deputy said.

There were no signs of anything out of the ordinary that would lead police to suspect foul play, Levesque said.

A local medical examiner attributed Qualey’s death to hypothermia.