28-05-2025
Bayport couple found dead in home; natural causes determined
A Bayport couple found dead in their home this spring died of natural causes, officials say.
Candrice and John Ellickson were found March 11 after a neighbor who hadn't seen them in a week called to request a welfare check at their home on Lakeside Bay Drive South. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office does not list a timeline for how long the couple was deceased before being found, but police believe 'it was likely a few days,' said Bayport Police Chief Jay Jackson.
Candrice 'Candy' Ellickson, 77, died of a hepatic tumor and obesity, according to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office. Her husband, John, died of diabetic ketoacidosis and cardiomegaly.
The neighbor who requested the welfare check told police that he received a call from another neighbor asking if he had seen the couple lately because John Ellickson 'had not put his trash cans at the end of his curb as he always does,' the police report states.
The neighbor who called police said he had not seen the couple since he plowed snow at their residence a week prior. After he was contacted by the other neighbor, he said he went to the Ellicksons' house and found the front door unlocked. He told police he yelled several times for John Ellickson, but got no answer.
When the first police officer arrived, he found the front door unlocked and both of the Ellicksons deceased, according to the police report. A search warrant was issued, and officers searching the home 'immediately detected a moderate odor consistent with … deceased individuals,' the report states. Candy Ellickson was found on the couch in the upstairs living room; John Ellickson was found in an upstairs bathroom.
Officers 'did not observe anything apparently out of place or that appeared suspicious in nature, and … did not immediately observe any sign of trauma to either decedent,' according to reports.
Investigators from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension were called to the scene 'out of an abundance of caution due to the unusual circumstances of two people being deceased at the same time,' Police Chief Jay Jackson said.
Both of the Ellicksons' carbon monoxide concentrations were within the normal range, he said. Family members told police that both of the Ellicksons had been sick with cold symptoms the month prior.
According to a joint obituary, the couple devoted their lives to public safety. John Ellickson retired as deputy director of New Brighton's Department of Public Safety; Candy Ellickson retired as a dispatcher for the Washington County Sheriff's Office.
'They enjoyed traveling in their retirement, especially the southwestern U.S.,' the obituary states. 'They loved touring historical estates, watching movies, and dining out together.'
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