Two Gay Men Found Dead with Bank Accounts Drained Ruled Homicide Victims

Two gay men who were found dead with their bank accounts drained after leaving New York City bars last year have been ruled as homicide victims, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner reported Friday.

John Umberger, 33, and Julio Ramirez, 25, died about five weeks apart last spring under similar circumstances, NYPD sources previously told CBS New York. Both men were seen leaving popular Hell’s Kitchen gay bars with strangers before their deaths.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Friday that both men died of “drug-facilitated theft.” Investigators wanted to know more about the deaths of Umberger and Ramirez and if they were among “several incidents where individuals have been victims of either robberies or assault,” police said at the time.

The mother of Umberger believes her son was drugged and robbed before being found dead. She said that her son was a political consultant from Washington, D.C., who had recently moved to New York City.

The New York police said in November that detectives were investigating a string of robberies and assaults connected to night spots in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen. It is unclear if the deaths of Umberger and Ramirez are connected to the string of robberies and assaults.