Baton Rouge (US), Dec 28 (AP) A 57-year-old homeless man, who died from cold weather exposure Christmas day, was trying to travel from Louisiana to Tennessee to get to family members, officials said.

Charles Wilson Ligon Jr. was found dead by hunters in southern Mississippi Monday. Ligon was dressed in a light jacket and had money and a cellphone, The Times-Picayune reported.

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"We were able to notify next of kin, and it was evident that the family was trying to work with him to get him back to Tennessee. But he didn't have the means of getting a bus ticket or getting money wired to him,"Pearl River County Coroner Derek Turnage told the Sun Herald of Biloxi. "He didn't have a current ID, which was the reason why he could not get those things done. The family was struggling to get him there."

Ligon left Slidell, Louisiana, in mid-December without a vehicle and was living in the woods during the time of his death, Turnage said.

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Blinding blizzards, freezing rain and frigid cold that stretched from Maine to Seattle over the holiday weekend is blamed for at least 49 deaths across the country. The National Weather Service says about 60 per cent of the US population faced some sort of winter weather advisory or warning during the widespread Arctic Blast.

Additionally, in the Deep South cold weather has upended water systems after days of freezing temperatures. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)