80-year-old man found in home during storm dies in hospital, police say

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (WCAX/Gray News) - Police in Vermont are investigating after an 80-year-old man rescued from his home during a nor’easter died in the hospital.

First responders arrived at the Brattleboro home of Alex Nislick two weeks ago for a wellness check. At the residence, they found Nislick weak and suffering from exposure to the cold.

Nislick’s neighbor, Peter Case, is the person who called first responders to investigate. He said Nislick would mostly keep to himself at his home, where he lived alone.

“I would see him at least five or six times a week,” Case said. “I hadn’t seen him in probably four or five days and that goes to the preceding time and the preceding storm.”

Case said he realized something was wrong when he noticed Nislick was not burning wood during the storm when the neighborhood was out of power.

Nislick died at the hospital three days after he was found.

Despite the sad outcome, Case said he’s glad he called the police.

“Calling in wellness checks is never a bad idea to take care of people you might otherwise not really even know,” he said.

Authorities are waiting on the autopsy to determine Nislick’s exact cause of death. They said it does not seem to be a suspicious death.