Youngstown police ID elderly man found dead on West Side

YOUNGSTOWN — Police have identified the 91-year-old Austintown man found dead on Salt Springs Road as James LaRubbio.

LaRubbio was reported missing Tuesday. His body was found Friday morning.

LaRubbio’s car veered off the side of Salt Springs on the city’s West Side and ended up stuck in an embankment, police Chief Rod Foley said today.

After the accident, the man got out of the car, locked the door and it appears he tried to look for help, Foley said.

LaRubbio likely became disoriented and possibly suffered a stroke or a heart attack, Foley said.

An autopsy will be done, likely on Monday, by the Mahoning County coroner to determine the cause of death. But police aren’t ruling the death suspicious, however.

LaRubbio’s body was found 100 yards from his car about 8 a.m. Friday by a city police officer.

Detectives said they saw footprints showing the Austintown man walked back and forth along a wooded area before he collapsed and died.