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Man who was living on a ledge 20 feet up in the Pru tunnel falls to his death, police say

State Police report a man whose body was found on the exit ramp from the Massachusetts Turnpike to Copley Square died from falling 20 feet from a ledge, not by being hit by a car.

State Police say they found the man, 50, with serious injuries around 8:20 a.m. yesterday. He was rushed to Tufts Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.

State Police said troopers initially thought the man was the victim of a hit-and run crash, but:

Subsequent investigation by Troopers revealed no evidence of a vehicle strike. Rather, Troopers observed a concrete ledge approximately 20 feet above the location where the man was found. Further investigation revealed items on the ledge, including a sleeping bag and toiletries, that suggested a person had been living on the ledge.

Troopers interviewed the trauma surgeon who attempted to save the victim’s life; the surgeon stated that the injuries that the victim sustained were less likely caused by a motor vehicle strike and were more likely sustained from the impact created from an elevated fall.

State Police say the man's official cause of death will be determined by the state medical examiner's office.

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Comments

May they rest in peace.

Hopefully a barrier can be put up to prevent others from accessing the dangerous ledge. Though if one is constructed we can probably look forward to the Boston Globe condemning it in a few months.

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Voting closed 69

That's reporting, not condemning.

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Voting closed 49

Looks like he woke up on the wrong side of the bed??

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Voting closed 37

He was a human being, have some respect.

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Voting closed 68

That tunnel is fairly narrow and curves at the Dartmouth exit. Several times I’ve been startled to find myself driving closer than I’d like to a pedestrian/ homeless person walking into the tunnel. I know there are hangout spots but don’t know where. I just know it’s scary to almost hit someone.

Looking at it another way: the tunnel is probably a dry escape for someone living on the street. I’m glad I don’t have to make the decision to walk on a narrow highway to find a place to hang, or sleep. There but for the grace of god I go…

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Voting closed 91

The PR fakes at the Turnpike authority and the MBTA will now have to prepare statements denying the existence of poor desperate souls living beneath the streets of Boston.

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Voting closed 29

Charlie was a CHUD?

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Voting closed 23

This guy was living in the Hynes Convention Center for months. Know fact.

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Voting closed 30

I know the ledge in question. Used to live there when I was a homeless teenager. You enter the tunnel, walk down the rocks a quarter mile or so, come up to the highway level, death dash across, leap the barrier and then head over to the ledge in question.

You scurry up the ledge, climb a diagonal beam, heave yourself up, and there you are in a concealed passage maybe eight feet wide and several hundred feet long. It’s next to a fresh air vent. Heck, I would not be surprised if some of my old decorations were still there.

If you’re in sloppy weather such as we’ve had and/or (no judgement) you’re a little chemically impaired you can easily lose your grip or your footing as you make your way up.

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Voting closed 108

How did you discover it even existed?

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Voting closed 31

An old traveler named Dale who was one of those urban spelunker types discovered it in the ‘90s. It was a secret among the Copley homeless people, along with the cache of war weapons stashed away in a grate between the BPL and the Copley Square Hotel for many years (manhole plates, bats, chains, hockey sticks stashed in case of I don’t know what, Helter Skelter?)

I was its primary tenant for a few years until I made the mistake of telling one longtime gentleman of the benches Mike Hathaway about it during a blizzard. Mike was a nice guy but a total alcoholic mess, and he moved in, as one does, bringing with him a bunch of party people who trashed the place. I lost track of it after that. Went up there maybe a decade ago to check it out and it was a sty.

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Voting closed 51

You need to write your story.

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Voting closed 44

The problem is still huge. Why? Where does the $ end up? The # of Un-Housed is percentage-wise very small. The math doesn't add up.

And no solid action regarding mentally ill Un-Housed. Just random BS programs often operated by people making 6 figure salaries.

If I didn't know better, I'd say those in authority want these people to die on the streets. But there sure are people making big $ in the To Homeless Industry.

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Voting closed 37

If anything, the drive to end homelessness is severely underfunded and nearly everyone involved in direct contact work is severely underpaid.

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Voting closed 29