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Mark Stroz had dreams and, when you really did get him talking, he sounded like a young philosopher, weaving together big ideas — he reportedly wanted to improve wheelchair accessibility and was an aspiring entrepreneur — and biting into even bigger outdoor adventures.

Such as heading out West to see the Rockies a few years back or heading out on Valentine’s Day, just last weekend, on the coldest night of the year in Toronto, to catch up with some friends.

This was Mark Stroz, at 29, young and full of life, before he became part of a tragic story that has left those who knew him heartbroken and those who did not wondering why.

Mr. Stroz was dropped in front of the grey brick bungalow on Allanhurst Drive in Etobicoke where he lived with his mother, Christine, by a taxi sometime after midnight on the morning of Feb. 15. The temperature, without the wind chill, was -30 C. There was blowing snow. He was found lying face down in his driveway by a passerby at 7:12 am. His wheelchair was tipped on its side. He had no vital signs and was later pronounced dead at hospital.

His funeral is Saturday at a church not far from his home.

Police are still interested in speaking with the cab driver who dropped him off. No one has come forward.

“I think there is a moral obligation here,” an officer familiar with the Stroz case file told me. “But this is not a criminal investigation.”

In legal-speak, Mr. Stroz’s passing was classified as a sudden death. People die suddenly in public all the time in the big city. Shovelling their sidewalk; running on a treadmill at the gym; feeding pigeons on a park bench; eating lunch at a crowded mall; riding on an empty subway car late at night.