New Zealand Man Found Dead In “Suspicious” Circumstances At Burning Man

Shane Billingham

New Zealand man Shane Billingham has been found dead at the Burning Man festival in Nevada, and police are treating his death as suspicious.

The 33-year-old was found “unresponsive” in a vehicle at around 6.30pm local time on Thursday. Bystanders reportedly attempted CPR before ambulance crews arrived.

He was taken to a medical tent on the site, but pronounced dead.

The local sheriff’s office said that tests on his body showed “a concentration of carbon monoxide in his blood which would be considered poisonous to human life.”

“Preliminary toxicology showed the presence of controlled substances to be an exacerbating factor,” they added, saying more extensive test result won’t be available for several weeks.

Shane Billingham

A makeshift memorial has been set up at the Beats Boutique camp, where he was staying,

Friend Steve MacWithey told the Reno Post Gazette that Shane Billingham was “one of the best people I’ve ever known.”

In 2017, US man Aaron John Mitchell died after running into a wall of fire at Burning Man. Photos showed him running towards the flames and dodging security guards in the process.

Initial efforts to assist him were frustrated as sections of the large wooden effigy fell on rescuers.  He was flown to the UC-Davis burns centre, but died from his injuries.

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