Fall victim was Marina City resident

25-Jun-12 – The man who fell from its west tower on Sunday morning was a resident of Marina City.

Gabriel Mitchell was 38 years old. He lived on the 59th floor of the west tower in a one-bedroom unit purchased by his parents on March 14, 2012. Before that, he rented a unit in the east tower, moving to Marina City in 2003.

A woman who was the man’s next-door neighbor in the west tower was called on to identify the body. The death was ruled a suicide by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. According to a spokesperson on Tuesday, Mitchell died of multiple injuries from a “fall from height.”

At Cellular Field on Sunday afternoon, according to a woman who works there, Chicago police came to the stadium looking for Mitchell’s parents, who may have attended Sunday’s White Sox game, but did not find them.

Mitchell’s website at www.philmworx.com describes his experience in film, theater, writing, and teaching. According to his LinkedIn and Facebook profiles, he has written film screenplays and a novel and made numerous student films at Columbia College, University of Chicago, and New York University. He also worked at a nearby Jewel-Osco as a produce clerk.

(Left) A photo of Gabriel Mitchell on the home page of his website.

At 10:31 a.m. on Sunday, a man was found lying dead in the 300 block of North Dearborn Street, closest to the Marina City side of the block. A woman walking on Dearborn Street and a man who was driving north on Dearborn and pulled over were the first on the scene. The woman called 911 and police arrived within minutes.

According to the case incident report, a 41-year-old woman told Chicago police she heard a “thump” and when she turned around she saw the victim on the ground. She did not see where the body came from. Police canvassed the area and found the Marina City resident who positively identified the victim as Mitchell. He was described as a white male, five feet ten inches tall, 175 pounds, brown eyes, and short brown hair.

A Chicago fire department ambulance responded and pronounced Mitchell dead at 10:35 a.m. The body was removed at 12:50 p.m.

Until then, the body remained in the street near a crosswalk, covered by a white sheet. A stretch of Dearborn from the bridge to the entrance to Marina City was closed until about 2 p.m.

 Related story: Police investigating possible fall from Marina Towers

[This story was updated on June 26 and July 6.]