ELLWOOD CITY, Pa. (AP) - Authorities say the death of a western Pennsylvania man whose body was found outside a neighbor’s home appears to have been accidental.
State police in Lawrence County said Monday that an autopsy determined that 41-year-old Shawn Harper of Ellwood City died of a broken neck after a fall.
Police said Harper fell on the steps leading to an outside patio outside a house not far from his own home.
He is believed to have fallen early Sunday, but his absence wasn’t noticed for hours and his body wasn’t found until about 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
Police said “excessive consumption of alcohol” prior to the fall may have been a factor in his death.
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