UPDATE: Cottage Grove man found in car died of fall, hypothermia

A Cottage Grove man found dead in his car Monday died from an accidental fall and hypothermia, according to police and medical officials.

Cottage Grove police on Tuesday identified the victim as 66-year-old Dallas G. Jensen. He died as a result of trauma caused by falling and hypothermia, according to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s office, which performed an autopsy. The death was determined to be accidental.

Emergency crews were called to a home in the 8800 block of Hamlet Avenue at 4:29 p.m. on a report of a man who was “obviously deceased.” Police paramedics found the man and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police Capt. Pete Koerner said it’s believed that Jensen fell in his driveway while leaving for work Monday morning but managed to get into his car after the fall, though he may have been disoriented. He was found hours later.

The temperature dipped into the mid-20s during the day on Monday.

Koerner said police because officers initially treated it as death investigation in which the cause was not known, they briefly secured the property with police tape, notified neighbors on the block and parked the police command vehicle nearby.

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