Man found dead at Burning Man, police investigating as ‘suspicious’
The death of a 33-year-old New Zealand man at Burning Man Festival on Thursday has been attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Shane Billingham was found unresponsive in his vehicle at the Beats Boutique camp and was pronounced dead after being transferred to an on-site medical tent. A coroner’s report has since been released, stating to have found high levels of carbon monoxide in the Kiwi man’s blood. The case is being investigated as “suspicious,” according to the Pershing County Sheriff’s Office.
Friends of Billingham described him as happy, hard-working, loving, and someone who could be counted on.
“I miss him. I’m never going to let him be forgotten,” remarked Steve MacWithey, who’d first met Shane at the festival four years prior. Members of the Beats Boutique camp plan to honor Billingham Sunday night when the ceremonial temple burns.
This is the first death at Burning Man since an Oklahoma man ran into the festival’s central effigy as it was engulfed in flames.
Photo credit: Andy Barron / AP
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