No autopsy set on flood victim
Published 11:43 am Friday, May 20, 2011
No autopsy will be performed on a Vicksburg man who died early Thursday after being pulled two days before from floodwater near First East and North Washington streets.
Walter Cook, 69, 503 Peal St., died at 2:35 a.m. of hypoxic brain injury due to drowning, Coroner Doug Huskey said. The decision to bypass an autopsy was made after meeting with the physician at River Region Medical Center who pronounced Cook dead, Huskey said.
Cook was found and taken to the hospital by Vicksburg firefighters near the flooded intersection after apparently walking from his home through brush between Peal and North Washington streets to get to the Klondyke, a restaurant a relative said he frequented for years.
He fell in about 3 feet of floodwater on North Washington Street, Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong said.
W.H. Jefferson Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.