Egypt's Consul General in Chicago, Mohamed Aboul Dahab, headed to the US state of Indiana on Thursday to meet with an American investigator looking into the mysterious death of a man named Mohamed Adel Rushdie, who is believed to be of Egyptian origin.
US investigators say Rushdie was found dead on April 22, lying on the ground next to a garbage bin, according to Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid. The body was discovered by the security guard at a real-estate office.
The cause of death has been determined as asphyxiation and criminal motives are suspected, said Abu Zeid.
Documents found with the victim identify him as a US citizen born on January 31, 1954. However, officials did not say where he was born.
The Bureau of Forensic Medicine in Indianapolis ordered the victim's burial after the autopsy due to the lack of information about his relatives or members of his family.
According to Abu Zeid, the Egyptian Consulate General in Chicago learned of the incident on April 27 through a phone call from an Egyptian expatriate in the US.
The Egyptian consulate in Chicago contacted the Bureau of Forensic Medicine to learn more details about the cause of death and will continue to communicate with the investigating authorities, he said.
He said that the final forensic report in the US may take from eight to twelve weeks to be completed.
Abu Zeid called on the family or acquaintances of the deceased to communicate with the ministry to provide information about him.
The death in Chicago follows news of the death of a 21-year-old Egyptian man in London, England. The man was found in a car inside a burning garage and was taken to a hospital specialising in burn injuries. However, he later died of his injuries.
Senior sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Minister of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriate Affairs Nabila Makram would be traveling to the UK to follow up on the case.
