Saint John police investigate encampment death of man who lost parts of limbs to frostbite

Members of Street Team SJ are mourning the sudden death of a homeless man whose amputations due to frostbite last winter sparked outrage and helped prompt changes.

The body of Jamie Langille, 44, was discovered in a tent at an encampment near the Courtenay Bay Causeway and Crown Street on Tuesday around 8:45 p.m., the Saint John Police Force said Wednesday.

"The major crime unit, in cooperation with the coroner's office, continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death; however, it is not believed to be criminal in nature," acting Staff Sgt. Matthew Weir said in a statement.

An autopsy will be conducted, he said, offering condolences to Langille's family and friends. 

Street Team members, who provide food and supplies to the homeless, learned of Langille's devastating death through social media posts, said director Johanne McCullough. They're taking the news "quite hard," she said.

"We do get close to some of them when we've been serving them for so long. And Jamie has certainly been around our team members for quite a while."

Langille had been living in a tent in a wooded area uptown for about four years. In January, he lost part of his left leg and part of his right foot to frostbite after he fell asleep one night with wet feet.

At the time, Catherine Driscoll, a volunteer with Street Team SJ,  posted graphic photos of his blackened, cold-ravaged feet and the white-bandaged stumps left behind 

"We can't waste any more time. Nobody should lose their limb or their life in order to have the basic necessity of a home," she wrote on Facebook.

Since then, the team's volunteers really tried to "look out for him" and he seemed to be doing well, said McCullough, who was unable to comment on his cause of death.

"For everything that he went through, his attitude about it was absolutely phenomenal. You know, he was very positive, he was very independent. He certainly didn't let that stop him any longer than he needed to."

He was a "wanderer" and went "everywhere," initially using a wheelchair, then crutches and most recently, a prosthetic leg, she said.

McCullough's husband, Ivan, just saw Langille on Saturday. "He was in really good spirits; happy he got a meal," he said.

Langille joked around with Ivan, who just had knee replacement surgery. They compared scars and Langille told him he was growing a new knee back as well, said McCullough.