By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Coroner’s Office says the man who was found dead laying on the ground next to a dumpster in Centralia is 49-year-old Michael S. Christin of Chehalis.
The preliminary autopsy results indicate his death was from natural causes – from the natural disease process – but a final determination has not been made, according to Coroner Warren McLeod.
Police were alerted to the discovery of Christin’s body next the Good Health Nutrition Center building on Harrison Avenue by a passerby about 7 o’clock on Thursday morning, according to police.
Centralia resident Chandra Shilley who conducts outreach to the less fortunate through the group Open Arms said Christin was living out of his truck, although she also knew him from several years ago through his job.
“He had a wife, a family, a home,” Shilley said of earlier times. “Like all of us, he was one paycheck away (from homelessness.)”
He was found about 25 feet from the sidewalk that runs alongside the strip mall parking lot that includes Centralia Goodwill, near the Skookumchuk Bridge.
McLeod indicated today the official cause and manner of death won’t be known until after getting back the results of toxicology tests. That can take up to 90 days.
Centralia police have said the death didn’t appear suspicious.
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For background, read “Centralia: Dead man’s identity, cause of death still not released” from Friday March 16, 2018, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Sharon, can you check the last name and middle initial of the deceased plase? Is the last name Christina by chance? And does the S. stand for Shinn? Thanks.