The Reno Police Department has identified the homeless man found dead in Whitaker Park last Wednesday. He was Jerome Cleommie Austin, a 59-year-old man who was homeless and routinely at the park.
Austin had been known to RPD officers for around 20 years, and the police department and other city services had tried to assist him during that time. The weather was extremely cold the night he died. A Reno Police officer had conducted a welfare check on him and had taken a new sleeping bag, a warm blanket, a new jacket and food to him.
The body was found lying on the ground near a picnic table at 8:30 a.m. the next morning when the officer returned to the park to take Austin coffee and breakfast. A representative from the Medical Examiner’s Office responded to the scene and assisted with the investigation.
