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Man Charged in Death of Fremont Boy Found Outside in Frigid Weather

Dakota McDonald
Dakota McDonald

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — A 21-year-old Omaha man has been arrested in connection with the death of a Fremont teenager who was found outdoors in bone-chilling cold last fall.

Fremont police said in a news release Friday that Douglas County deputies took Dakota McDonald into custody. He’s charged with procuring alcohol for a minor that resulted in a death. Online court records don’t list the name of McDonald’s attorney in the case.

The 16-year-old boy, Jaime Valdez, was spotted a little before 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 16 by a city worker. National Weather Service records say Fremont’s temperature then was 2 degrees, with a wind child of minus 16.

The boy died later that day. Lt. Kurt Bottorff (BAHT’-orf) said Friday that the cause of death was hypothermia associated with acute ethanol intoxication.

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