A Burlington Junction man is dead, after apparently fleeing from law officers summoned to a house Sunday after a domestic violence incident.

Nodaway County Sheriff Darrin White says the victim very likely died of exposure during the extreme cold Sunday night.

“It really appears it was an accidental death,” Sheriff White said.

White says Jeffery Carter, 51, had already had a lot to drink Sunday night, and was found with a nearly-empty vodka bottle in a dumpster in Burlington Junction.

“When we found him there was a bottle of vodka in the dumpster with him, next to him, that was all but empty,” White said, “and he was still wearing the same clothes they described that he had on when he left the house.”

“So, it really looks as though he probably died that night.”

White says Carter was wearing a pair of slacks, some loafers, and a hooded, zip-up sweater, which White described as “inappropriate” for the weather. White says he believes Carter crawled into the dumpster to get out of the elements.

The body was discovered Thursday by the trash service.