A Portales man found dead in his front yard Tuesday morning died of natural causes, police said.
Capt. Lonnie Berry said a medical investigator has determined  Gene Foreman, 61, died in his yard at 709 North Avenue I, sometime Monday afternoon or evening and lay undiscovered until police found him around 6 a.m. Tuesday.
Police were called by a family member, concerned because they couldn't reach Foreman, Berry said.
Berry said Foreman likely died shortly after collapsing in his yard. Weather officials said temperatures dipped to 13 degrees on Tuesday morning, but Berry said there is no indication Foreman froze to death.
Neighbors told police Foreman had not been feeling well in recent days. A couple of days before his death, one neighbor said she saw him at his mailbox, clutching his chest in obvious pain before going back inside the house.
A representative of Wheeler Mortuary said funeral services are pending.