Three men were found dead outside a Kansas City home after they reportedly gathered to watch a football game

Authorities in Kansas City, Missouri, are investigating after the bodies of three men who had reportedly gathered to watch football were found outside a home last week on a day when forecasters said the temperature was well below freezing fallen.

The men, all between the ages of 36 and 38, were found dead in a home in suburban Kansas City in Platte County on the evening of Jan. 9, the Kansas City Police Department told USA TODAY.

On Tuesday, police said officers from multiple agencies were working to determine how the men died.

A spokesman for Forensic Medical of Kansas, based in Kansas City, confirmed that the dead were Ricky Johnson, 38, David Harrington, 37, and Clayton McGeeney, 36.

According to police Capt. Corey Carlisle, on the day they were discovered, the fiancé of one of the men went to the house to check on him, found a body on the back porch and called 911.

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Police: “No obvious signs of crime”

Officers were on scene at 9:51 p.m., police said. They confirmed it was a body and upon further investigation found two more bodies in the backyard.

According to police, no obvious signs of crime were “observed at or near the crime scene.”

Officials did not say how long they believed the men had been dead or how they might have died.

The cause of death will be determined by a medical examiner, police Sgt. Jake Becchina told USA TODAY in an email.

A coroner’s spokesman told USA TODAY that autopsies had been performed on all three men and results in their respective cases were pending Tuesday. Toxicological test results were also not yet available.

Becchina said the resident of the home cooperated with investigators the day the men were found dead. Due to the ongoing investigation, officials did not provide any information about the resident.

As of Tuesday, there had been no arrests or charges filed in the case, police said.

“This case is 100% not being investigated as a murder,” Becchina said.

A spokesman for the Platte County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to USA TODAY.

“His friends froze to death”

Before the bodies were discovered, Harrington’s mother, Jennifer Marquez, said her son went to a friend’s house on Jan. 7 to watch the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers NFL game, WDAF-TV reported.

According to the National Weather Service, the low temperature on game day was 29 degrees. On January 8th the minimum temperature was 32 degrees; and the minimum temperature on January 9th was 18 degrees.

The person who lives in the home said the man told police “his friends froze to death,” according to the newspaper.

Police said they could not say what date the men visited the home or why the person in the home did not contact police to report the bodies.

“These details would be part of the ongoing investigation, which is not publicly available at this time,” Becchina said.

“Everyone is angry,” Marquez told the outlet, adding that her son was a funny, loving man who also leaves behind a brother and sister. “Nobody believes this story. None of his friends, none of the families.”

“A revered father”

According to a fundraiser by Johnson’s niece, Stephanie Walling, the men were all friends.

She described her uncle as “an adored father to his three beautiful daughters, but also a treasured son, brother, uncle and friend.”

“This tragedy has left our family completely devastated and grieving a tremendous loss,” Walling wrote on the page created to help the family with funeral costs.

As of Tuesday, the campaign had raised more than $3,600 of its $6,000 goal.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 3 men found dead outside Kansas City home in Northland: police