Daniel HillUpdate: Reached by phone on Sunday afternoon, Hardin County coroner Jessica Cullum released the name of the man who died as Cory Collins, 24, of Harrisburg, Illinois, a town about 35 miles northwest of the music festival. Cullum said the cause of death was still pending.
More details about the fatal overdose that took place Friday afternoon at the Gathering of the Juggalos in Cave-In-Rock, Illinois, have emerged. The deceased was a 24-year-old man, according to the coroner and a source at the scene says his body was found in a tent alongside four others who were sleeping.
See also: Death Reported at Gathering of the Juggalos; Drug Bridge Closed
The incident took place at the seminar tent, in a central area of the Gathering grounds. The man who died, whose name has not been released, reportedly came from the direction of the “drug bridge” two to three hours before his body was found, feeling sick, and asked the owner of a large camping tent if he could have a place to sleep for a while. He was granted accommodations alongside four other individuals who were already sleeping.
When the owner of the tent, who admitted that he had taken mescaline earlier in the day, returned around 2 p.m. to check on the man, he found that the body was cold. He went to lift the man's arm up (which reportedly displayed track marks) to check his pulse, but when he did so “the guy's whole body came up — rigor mortis had begun to set in — and blood came out of his mouth.”
Our source explains that the man then frantically began trying to wake his sleeping friends, telling them that there was a dead man in the tent with them: “These are four dudes that had been sleeping with a corpse.” His friends initially thought he was joking or playing a prank — this sort of twisted humor, centered on death, would not be out of place among juggalos.
When our source came upon the scene, the owner of the tent was speaking with security and staff, saying: “I want you to know that I had nothing to do with this.” He was eager to tell his story to whomever would listen.
“You could tell something was wrong,” our source tells us of his first impressions on the scene. “There was no crowd, just a few people. But they had ashen faces. I overheard someone say something about a body — someone asked 'Is there a sick kid?'” A woman speaking Spanish, one of the food vendors, then motioned with her hand across her neck, signaling that he was dead.
See also: Our photo gallery of the Gathering
The Southern Illinoisan newspaper reports that the Hardin County coroner confirmed the man was 24, but did not release his name because his family had not been notified.
EMS arrived on the scene and entered the tent with an box of supplies. Nearby, at the seminar tent, an MC began warming the crowd up for a comedy act, playing the music of the Insane Clown Posse over the loudspeakers and encouraging people to come and hang out.
We've been seeing usage of 25I-NBOMe, a psychedelic designer drug being passed off as run-of-the-mill acid, though no cause of death has been announced yet, and this man's death is believed to be from a heroin overdose.
A representative at the Hardin County Sheriff's Department referred us to the Illinois State Police, who could not be reached Saturday afternoon. We'll update this story as more information arrives.
See also: Death Reported at Gathering of the Juggalos; Drug Bridge Closed
Follow us on Twitter @LAWeeklyMusic, and like us at LAWeeklyMusic.
Top 60 Worst Lil Wayne Lines on Tha Carter IV
Five Rappers That Fans Love and Critics can't stand
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.