Probe of Naperville man’s death continues
BY BILL BIRD and SUSAN FRICK CARLMAN wbird@stmedianetwork.com scarlman@stmedianetwork.com January 8, 2013 11:28PM
Updated: February 12, 2013 2:10PM
Authorities are continuing to investigate the apparent helium-related suicide of a Naperville man in his car outside a Bolingbrook supermarket.
An autopsy was performed Wednesday at the Will County coroner’s office in Joliet in an effort to determine the cause of the death of Leonard A. Ostrowsky, 43.
Naperville police about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday sought the help of their counterparts in Bolingbrook in locating a suicidal man believed to be somewhere in that village. Naperville police Sgt. Lou Cammiso said a telephone call had come in a few minutes earlier from the man’s girlfriend.
“He apparently left a note to his girlfriend and family that he was despondent over financial issues,” Cammiso said. “We pinged his phone, and that’s how we found his car.”
Ostrowsky was found unresponsive inside his black, 2010 BMW. He had parked it in the lot of the Jewel-Osco store at 1200 W. Boughton Road, northeast of the intersection of Boughton and Weber roads near Naperville’s far southeast side.
Bolingbrook firefighters were sent to the scene after police spotted an object inside the car that suggested some sort of hazardous material might be involved, Bolingbrook police Lt. Mike Rompa said.
“Officers cleared the area as a precautionary measure,” Rompa said Wednesday in a release. “The item was later identified as a helium tank.”
Police secured the parking lot and adjacent areas until about 11 p.m. Tuesday. Ostrowsky’s body was removed by coroner’s office employees.
Rompa added the preliminary police investigation indicated Ostrowsky’s death “appeared to be a suicide.”
Coroner Patrick K. O’Neil on Wednesday said while toxicological testing will be required before he can determine the manner of Ostrowsky’s death, it appeared to have been the result of inhaling gas in the confined space of his car.
