NORWICH – State Police in Norwich have released information pertaining to the cause of death of a body found early Friday afternoon. The body, identified as that of 29-year-old Christopher M. Gonzalez, was recovered from a wooded area on County Road 36 – known as the Norwich-Guilford Rd. – in the vicinity of Guinn Ridge Road in the Town of Norwich.

An autopsy conducted on Jan. 11 at Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton by Dr. Robin Eastman-Abbaya determined the cause of death to be from hypothermia, with a secondary contributing factor of drug toxicity. The manner of death was ruled accidental.

On Jan. 8, State Police announced Gonzalez as a subject wanted for questioning in connection to the two separate burglaries of 26 handguns, six long guns and a large amount of ammunition from Mayhood’s Sporting Goods in the Town of Norwich. Police say those burglaries took place between 9:52 p.m. on Jan. 6 and 6 a.m. Jan. 7.

Gonzalez had remained at large Thursday, despite reports from several medial outlets that he had been captured and placed into custody.

An extensive search conducted by units from the New York State Department of Conservation and several New York State Police units from out of the immediate jurisdiction revealed Gonzalez’ body early Friday afternoon.

Mike Mayhood, owner of Mayhood's Sporting Goods said, “All of the weapons that were reported stolen last week have been returned to the business,” although some, he added, were damaged.

In addition to the weapons, an undisclosed amount of cash and cash boxes were stolen as well.

Mayhood also indicated that the business sustained a substantial amount of property damage by way of broken windows and destroyed surveillance equipment.

He went on to say, “I'm just very thankful that local law enforcement officials were able to recover all the guns and get them off the streets and out of the wrong hands. It was remarkable at how quickly the items were returned to the store given the circumstances."