Police investigating death of Brattleboro man after welfare check

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. (WCAX) - Police are investigating the death of an 80-year-old Brattleboro man found in his home following a wellness check during the recent nor’easter.

“I would see him at least five or six times a week,” said Peter Case, a neighbor of Alex Nislick. But he says Nislick kept mostly to himself at his Old Guilford Road home where he lived alone.

Police and firefighters responded to the home the Wednesday of the nor’easter two weeks ago where they found Nislick very weak and suffering from exposure to the cold. “The police department went first and they got there and they couldn’t gain entry into the house so they called for the fire department to come and we sent an engine and ambulance to the scene,” said Brattleboro Fire Chief Leonard Howard.

Case is the neighbor who called the police for a wellness check. “I hadn’t seen him in probably four or five days and that goes to the preceding time and the preceding storm,” he said.

Case says the fact that Nislick was not burning wood during the storm when the entire neighborhood was out of power was one of the reasons he knew something was wrong. The 80-year-old died three days later at the hospital.

Case says while the outcome is sad, he’s glad he called the police. “Calling in wellness checks is never a bad idea to take care of people you might otherwise not really even know,” he said.

“We should all be checking on our neighbors just to make sure that everyone is ok, That they are getting the proper care that they need and maybe their medications,” Howard said.

Police say they are waiting on the autopsy to determine the exact cause and nature of the death. However, they are saying at this time that they do not believe it is suspicious.

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