Crime & Safety
Two Bodies Found During Mass And Cass Cleanup
With more than 150 people living in the cold, Mayor Michelle Wu emphasized how important it is to get people off the streets.
BOSTON — Boston police say two bodies were found near tents as crews worked to clean up the last of the homeless encampments that once lined both sides of the "Methadone Mile," an area connecting Massachusetts Ave. and Melnea Cass Blvd.
On Monday, January 10, at 11:20 a.m., Boston Police responded to the area of 34 Newmarket Square for a report of a found body.
Crews were working to dismantle some of the tents and makeshift dwellings when they say they found a tarp outside of one of the tents. Assuming it was waste, police say they went to discard it, only to find a hand emerging from the tarp.
Find out what's happening in Bostonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Police say the 29-year-old man inside the tarp died of a fentanyl overdose, combined with exposure to the freezing temperatures.
Then on Tuesday, around 9 p.m., Boston EMS say they found a body under a truck parked near a loading dock. After an investigation, police believe the victim was in an altered mental state and most likely died of hypothermia from the cold.
Find out what's happening in Bostonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Mayor Michelle Wu organized this cleanup in an effort to help get homeless people off the streets, adding that tents cannot provide adequate needs for survival as the weather gets colder, especially in an environment surrounded by street violence and drug use daily.
The city has approached the area as a humanitarian and public health crisis because many of its residents were drawn by methadone clinics and social services in the area and were considered vulnerable to trafficking and other dangers.
"We saw extremely unsanitary conditions worsening health challenges," Wu said. "The encampments presented a very specific and particular set of dangers for residents and to our city," she said emphasizing how unsafe it was to live in tents.
A city survey in December found as many as 150 people living in the camps, where drug dealing and use often occurs out in the open.
New dorm-style units have been set up at the Southampton shelter as part of Wu's plan, with several methadone clinics, as well as Boston Medical Center's substance abuse services, are also nearby, and new pod-style housing has been made available on the grounds of Jamaica Plain's Lemuel Shattuck Hospital.
More on Mass & Cass
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
