Aug 7, 2003 By Patty Shultz 3 min read

MILL RUN – As Mark Bigam’s family members were making funeral arrangements on Wednesday, police were still trying to determine what might have caused the death of the Springfield Township man. His father found Bigam, 29, of Stewartown Road, dead Tuesday morning in his apartment.

Initially, police and Fayette County Coroner Dr. Phillip E. Reilly suspected Bigam had died of an electrical shock after finding him near his home computer that had had the cover removed.

Since then, said Chris Nicholson, Bigam’s sister, police have notified the family they do not believe that electrocution was the cause of her brother’s death.

“They are telling us they don’t know what happened and that we’re going to have to wait for other test results to be completed,” she said on Wednesday. “We just don’t know.”

State police Sgt. David Heckman said investigators are still conducting interviews, and he called the matter “suspicious in nature.”

“He was young, in relatively good health, but passed (away) so unexpectedly,” he said. “There are still a lot of questions that need answered.”

Heckman said there were no apparent signs of trauma to the body to suspect Bigam was the victim of foul play, but he declined to rule out any specific cause of death.

“There are no visible signs of injury,” he said.

Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht is conducting an autopsy and other testing.

Elsie Dvorchak, chief administrative assistant for Fayette County Coroner Dr. Phillip E. Reilly, said toxicology test results should be forwarded to the local office within seven days.

Heckman said he will confer with Reilly after the test results are received.

“We’re just going to have to wait for the lab results before we can know what happened,” he said.

Sylvia Speyer employed Bigam as a caretaker for her mountain retreat property and found it

“surprising” when she arrived Sunday night and wasn’t greeted by him.

“I didn’t think too much about it at first, but there was no sign of him on Monday,” she said on Tuesday. “It was strange that the grass wasn’t cut. He always makes sure that’s done before we get here.”

She alerted Bigam’s father, Charles Bigam, that she was concerned about his son’s whereabouts after he arrived to deliver a few items to his son’s garage apartment.

After Bigam’s body was found, emergency personnel and police were dispatched to the scene.

Mark Bigam also was employed by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy as a Fallingwater tour guide and telemarketing supervisor.

Bigam was born Sept. 29, 1973, in Connellsville, the son of Charles D. Bigam of Mill Run, and the late Linda Aker Bigam.

Friends will be received from 7 to 9 p.m., today and from 2 to 9 p.m. Friday in the Brooks Funeral Home Inc., 111 E. Green St., Connellsville, where services will be held Saturday at 1 p.m., with the Rev. John Davis officiating. Interment will follow in the Indian Creek Baptist Cemetery, Mill Run.