Police: Man dropped off unconscious at shelter appears to have died of natural causes

Texarkana, Texas
Texarkana, Texas

No foul play is suspected in the death of a man found unconscious at Randy Sams' Outreach Shelter in early January.

Anthony Ray Mathis, 54, died at Wadley Regional Medical Center shortly after he had been dropped off at the shelter in the 400 block of West Fourth Street.

"It appears that Anthony Mathis died of natural causes and no foul play is suspected at this point. All people that we saw in the video have been identified and interviewed," said Texarkana, Texas, Police Spokesman Shawn Vaughn.

Mathis had been dropped off at the shelter in a wheelchair and at the time of his death, police were looking for the people to question.

According to video at the shelter, after one man unloaded a wheelchair from the back of the vehicle, the other man placed Mathis in the wheelchair. The men then pushed Mathis into the lobby, attempted to prop him up in the wheelchair and then left in their vehicle.

People at the shelter then removed Mathis from the wheelchair to provide medical aid and called 911.

When police arrived at the shelter, emergency medical personnel were performing CPR on Mathis inside the lobby. Mathis was taken to Wadley Regional Medical Center and pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.

Police do not believe the men who dropped Mathis off at the shelter knew he was seriously ill.

"Apparently, he had a lot of health issues and these people knew him. His general symptoms that morning was not atypical for him and they thought they were nothing more serious than what they'd seen him experience in the past. They did not realize how sick he was," Vaughn said.

Mathis lived near the shelter and often visited the shelter, officials said.

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