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S. Ill. coroner blames heat in 2 more deaths

(via Flickr/Christian Haugen)

A coroner in southwestern Illinois says the heat wave gripping the region is blamed in two deaths.

St. Clair County Coroner Rick Stone tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that both men were found dead Wednesday night.

The body of 72-year-old Willie Gill of East St. Louis was found in a ditch near a home where he occasionally stayed. Stone described Gill as a transient and said his body temperature was 106.5 degrees.

Stone says 51-year-old Kevin Miller of Belleville died of a heat-related heart attack before he was found unresponsive on his front porch. The coroner says Miller used a wheelchair and had various medical complications.

Today's brings the number of heat-related deaths in the Metro East to three, with the first happening on July 11.