QuickTake:

Tabitha Bodda said her brother, who was rescued by a fire department crew last week, later died from cardiac arrest related to hypothermia. But the circumstances that led to him being trapped by a concrete wall make her suspect there could have been foul play.

The sister of a man pulled last week from a crevice near the Willamette River said he died from cardiac arrest related to hypothermia.

Tabitha Bodda said in an electronic message that her brother, Cactus Milligan, 49, “was just a man who walked alone [and] wanted to just be friends with everyone.”

Her brother mostly lived unhoused since about 2012 but remained in touch with family who are grieving his loss and raising money for cremation costs, Bodda said.

Bodda said she’s also concerned that someone forced her brother into the spot where he was found.

Bystanders called for help Sunday, Jan. 18, after noticing a man 10 to 15 feet down a crevice in the area of 2000 Garden Ave., Eugene Springfield Fire said.

Fire crews responded at about noon to find an unresponsive man pinned between a concrete diversion wall and large quarry stone. It took roughly an hour to free the man, who was taken by medics to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend with a body temperature of 76 degrees, well below normal, fire officials said.

Bodda said she was told her brother died early Jan. 19, but authorities did not identify him for four days.

Police have not said they suspect anyone contributed to Milligan’s death. But Bodda has her doubts.

An image from the scene showed her brother with what appears to be a stone in his lap, she said, sharing the photo with Lookout Eugene-Springfield. Milligan’s “crippled hands” did not function normally. “He couldn’t tie his shoes,” Bodda said.

“There’s no way with broken hands you could crawl down in a crevice like that and put a boulder on top of you,” Bodda said. Also, she said a fire department report described her brother as being found with abrasions on his body, along with bruising to his lower extremities, Bodda said.

“I believe there was foul play,” Bodda said.

Eugene police are awaiting an official cause of death from the medical examiner’s office, police spokesperson Melinda McLaughlin said Thursday, Jan. 29.

A GoFundMe page established to help cover cremation expenses described Milligan as someone willing to help others, even though he had little. In a message to Lookout, Bodda said her brother wouldn’t carry an ID, a backpack or even blankets.

“He had nothing except us, his family, who loved him deeply. My heart is broken by this loss, and we want to give him the dignity he deserves,” the fundraising page states.

Milligan would at times visit his parents, taking a shower and sleeping at their home. But he wouldn’t stay long, Bodda said.

“I would bring him money on Thursday [to] make sure he had clean clothes [and] shoes [and] he would check in every couple days,” Bodda said via Facebook messenger.

She last spoke to her brother the Friday before he was found by fire crews. She brought him money and clothes, she said.

“He walked off happy. I said I loved him,” Bodda said.