VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Authorities released the name of the man found dead on Tuesday in Valley City as 59 year-old Martin Rohwedder. He was found unresponsive at a residence in Valley City.
Police Chief Phil Hatcher said the man’s body was transported to the State Medical Examiner for an autopsy to determine the cause of death. He said no foul play is suspected.
Hatcher said authorities responded to a second unattended death on Tuesday. He said 72 year-old Gary Sandness died. The Barnes County Coroner signed off on this death and didn’t need an autopsy. Sandness was ill and nothing suspicious was found in the home.
Hatcher added that, “An unattended death just implies that the death was not witnessed by a medical professional, or in a medical facility. We don’t know medically what happened. That’s why we work with the Barnes County Coroner and the State Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death. Nothing appeared to be suspicious or self-inflicted. We had 2 unattended deaths at the same time on Tuesday, February 5th. We’ve had quite a few just in the last couple of months. I’m not sure why the trend is going up on unattended deaths.”