A group of high school students found a 48-year-old man hanging in a forest preserve Tuesday afternoon in Frankfort Township.
Thomas Lacasse, of Mokena, was pronounced dead at 4:59 p.m. at the Hickory Creek Preserve, according to the Will County coroner’s office.
Sometime after 2:37 p.m., a group of students from Lincoln-Way East High School discovered the body as they ran through the forest preserve just north of the school at 201 Colorado Ave. in Frankfort, according to Lincoln-Way High School District 210 spokeswoman Taryn Atwell. The students then came back to the school and alerted district officials. On Wednesday, counselors were made available to the students.
An autopsy conducted Wednesday morning identified the preliminary cause of Lacasse’s death as hanging. The coroner’s office hasn’t ruled on the final cause or manner of his death, pending the review of police and toxicology reports.
The Forest Preserve District of Will County police are handling the death investigation, but didn’t immediately respond to a request for additional details about the fatality.
