Cops ID body pulled from Still River as homeless man

DANBURY — Emergency responders recovered the body of a deceased 56-year-old homeless man from the Still River in Danbury on Saturday morning, police said.

David Mullen was found partially submerged in the water along a steep embankment where the river turns south near Crosby Street, according to Lt. Matthew McNally.

Although Mullen’s death is still under investigation, officers found no signs of foul play near the scene, he said.

“We have checked in on his health before,” McNally said. “We didn’t have a lot of cases with him, but he was known to our officers who work the beat downtown.”

Mullen was believed to be living along along the waterway behind the former News-Times building at 333 Main St., about 150 yards upstream of where his body was found in the river.

Officers located Mullen’s backpack on the banks near the former News-Times building and another shoe a little farther south along the water, between his makeshift camp and where his body was found, McNally said.

Police were dispatched to the area just before 9 a.m. Saturday. Police cruisers were there for hours.

The water was so cold that officers and firefighters had to don specialized exposure suits to protect from the frigid temperatures, McNally said.

It was dangerously cold overnight Friday into Saturday, with temperatures dipping into the low 30s and the water rising higher due to the rain and snow Friday afternoon, McNally said.

The death remains under investigation. Detectives expect the results of an autopsy next month.