POLICE SUSPECT OVERDOSE IN MAN'S DEATH

Columbus police are awaiting autopsy results but say they think a
former Ohio State University student found dead early yesterday died
of a drug overdose.

His body was found in the snow, not far from his duplex on E. 17th
Avenue shortly before 6 a.m.

Detectives tentatively identified the man as Nicholas Kluding, 22, of
425 E. 17th Ave.

Kluding, a native of Norwalk, Ohio, was found dead near an alley
behind a coin-operated laundry, about a half-block from the back of
his home.

His body was covered by a sleeping bag, police Lt. Mary Kerins
said.

One detective said police think Kluding was dragged outside by others
in his apartment, who had panicked after finding him unconscious or
dead -- likely from an overdose.

One of them placed the sleeping bag over Kluding and called 911 from
Kluding's house about 5:40 a.m., saying there was a body behind the
building.

When detectives arrived, no one answered the door to Kluding's home.
Police later got into the building with a search warrant and talked to
some of the people who had been with Kluding before he died. They told
police he was found unconscious after using heroin, police said.

Earlier in the day, police thought the dead man might be homeless and
had frozen to death in temperatures that dipped into single digits
overnight. His body was found clad only in pants and a light shirt.

Kerins said detectives began interviewing Kluding's friends after
finding identification on the body.

Kluding's parents told police that their son had dropped out of Ohio
State recently, Kerins said. Relatives at his family's home in Norwalk
declined comment.

A police spokeswoman said detectives did not suspect foul play in the
death but are awaiting autopsy results to make sure he was not alive
when taken out into the freezing cold. Kerins said detectives realized
the body had been moved from another location because of scrapes on
Kluding's knees and tracks in the snow.