Medical examiner reports cause of death for Bellingham man who went off-roading alone

Stefan Oliver, a 26-year-old Bellingham man who was found dead after being reported as missing, died of hypothermia, according to Whatcom County Medical Examiner Deb Hollis.

Olivier was reported missing to the Bellingham Police Department on Friday Jan. 19. He was last heard from Jan. 17, and he told friends he would be taking his Subaru Legacy off-roading at Mosquito Lake Road near the Nooksack River.

Rescue units were notified by a passerby of a body in a ditch mostly covered in snow. Deputies located the deceased man Jan. 21 and determined that it was Olivier. His vehicle was not found until the next day. It was located at the bottom of an embankment on Middle Fork Road, about half a mile from his vehicle. It remains unclear how or why Oliver became separated from his vehicle.

The hypothermia was a result of Oliver being exposed to the elements after crashing his vehicle and attempting to walk to the road, Hollis said Tuesday.