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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

CdA man’s death investigated

Friends told police 25-year-old may have jumped or fallen from vehicle

From Staff Reports

Police are investigating the death of a 25-year-old Coeur d’Alene man who suffered a fractured skull apparently after either falling or jumping from a moving vehicle Jan. 17.

Timothy W. Shackelford was pronounced brain dead on Jan. 20, the Coeur d’Alene Police Department said in a news release. The Kootenai County coroner’s office contacted police detectives Jan. 22 and reported Shackelford had suffered a fractured skull. Medical personnel removed him from life support on Jan. 23.

Shackelford’s grandmother, Joan Shackelford of Hayden, said her grandson was the oldest of three boys and that he graduated from Coeur d’Alene High School in 2003, where he wrestled and played football.

“I miss him greatly. He was just a super kid,” she said. “He was really family-oriented.”

She disagreed with the police account of his death on one detail, saying her grandson was pronounced brain dead on Jan. 21, not the day prior.

The friends Shackelford was with the night he was found in the roadway near Fifth Street and Front Avenue told police Shackelford had possibly fallen from the vehicle or jumped while it was moving. They said they didn’t notice he was gone until a few minutes later. They told police they looked for him and couldn’t find him, so they went home.

When medical personnel responded to the 911 call, apparently made by a motorist driving by at 2:29 a.m., they found no signs of trauma, the news release said. Shackelford’s clothes were not disheveled, but he smelled strongly of alcohol. He was taken by ambulance to Kootenai Medical Center.

Police are asking anyone with information to call (208) 769-2320.