Athens Deep Freeze Turns Deadly as Four Unhoused Residents Perish Outdoors

A brutal cold snap in Athens has left four unhoused residents dead after nights of bitterly low temperatures, and local advocates say they are now racing the weather every time the forecast drops. Autopsies are still pending, and investigators have not yet ruled whether exposure, drugs, or underlying health issues were the main causes in each case.

According to local reporting that reviewed police notes and interviews, 22-year-old Dequavious “Qua” Ragsdale was found in a tent off Old Hull Road after a night when temperatures plunged into the teens. An officer's report noted that "it appears he may have used fentanyl and then succumbed to the environmental conditions," investigators told reporters. The same reporting identified two other likely cold-related deaths, 46-year-old Christopher Michael Creese and Rogelio Perez, who was in his 60s, along with an unidentified middle-aged woman found on Atlanta Highway, as reported by Flagpole.

Police in Athens asked the public to help identify the woman found in the 3100 block of Atlanta Highway late in January and said cold exposure is a suspected factor in her death, according to WSB-TV. Community members have responded with online memorials and fundraising campaigns to help cover final expenses for some of the victims, reflecting how neighbors and service providers are stepping in where formal systems fall short, as shown on GoFundMe.

City, shelters and outreach

Athens-Clarke County's emergency shelter plan and online sheltering resources outlined a patchwork of options brought online during the cold snap, including a drop-in warming site at First Baptist Church and emergency shelter providers that expanded capacity. The county's sheltering page details intake rules, bed availability and day-center services, along with faith-based drop-in spaces that try to catch people who will not or cannot use traditional shelters. Volunteers and nonprofits also ran rotating warming stations and street outreach to coax people indoors, although officials note that some residents still refuse congregate shelter, as outlined by ACCGov.

Scale and context

Service providers say the recent deaths are a grim snapshot of a larger crisis. The federally mandated point-in-time count recorded 386 people experiencing homelessness in Athens in 2025, while the Athens Area Homeless Coalition estimates that 750 to 900 people cycle through homelessness locally at any given time. Providers tallied roughly 25 deaths in the unhoused community last year alone, pointing to a deadly mix of overdose, accidents and exposure that drives life expectancy sharply downward.

Regionally, public health data show that homelessness carries a far higher risk of death. One report found that people who experienced homelessness died at about three times the rate of the general population, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

Officials in Athens say they are still waiting on final autopsy results and cause-of-death rulings to sort out how much of the toll can be directly pinned on the freezing temperatures versus drugs or preexisting medical conditions. Meanwhile, nonprofits and the Athens Area Homeless Coalition are pushing ahead with plans for more low-barrier shelter and permanent supportive housing, backed in part by federal ARPA dollars, as outlined by ACCGov. County leaders are urging residents to call 911 if they see someone in immediate danger from the cold and to use the shelter resources page to find current warming sites and services before the next cold front moves in.