The Stark County Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of a Richardton man that took place earlier this week.
Randall James Hoff, 48, was found on the street near the curb at approximately 1:15 a.m. at 128 N.B. St. in Richardton on Tuesday, Feb. 6, by a Richardton Ambulance attendant, Stark County Sheriff Clarence Tuhy said.
The ambulance had responded to a report from a passerby of a crash along Interstate 94. When the ambulance arrived, there was no crash and what appeared to be tracks leading into the ditch and driving out. The ambulance returned to Richardton.
An attendant was on her way home and noticed Hoff lying in the street. He was unconscious and had been lying where he was found for quite some time, Stark County Detective Terry Oestreich said.
Hoff was transported to St. Joseph's Hospital and Health Center in Dickinson and was later transferred to Medcenter One in Bismarck, where he was pronounced dead, Tuhy said.
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An autopsy was conducted by the state medical examiner's office in Bismarck on Thursday afternoon, Tuhy added.
Hoff had some bruises on the back and the front of his head that possibly indicate a fall or hitting his head on a flat surface, Tuhy said.
"Through investigation and the preliminary autopsy, nothing indicates anything other than accidental," Tuhy said. "We are not suspecting foul play."
The results from the autopsy may take up to six weeks to receive. It is normal to conduct an autopsy in this situation to determine the cause and manner of death, Oestreich said.
According to information received through interviews, Hoff was at the Elkhorn Bar in Richardton the night of Feb. 5 and left by himself sometime after midnight, Tuhy said. It is unknown if Hoff was intoxicated when he left the bar.
The blood alcohol content is to be determined through the autopsy, Tuhy said. The distance between the bar and where Hoff was found is about one city block, Oestreich said.
