Photographer's death in fall from Chicago Loop hotel highlights risks of urban exploration
CHICAGO - Mike Kinsch hopped a fence last year and sneaked into the abandoned Edgewater Medical Center.
He wore a mask to protect himself from air thickened by two decades of decay. As paint chips crunched beneath his boots, Kinsch strolled the dark hallways of the former hospital where Hillary Clinton and John Wayne Gacy were born. Kinsch said he found discarded desks, old photos and even prescription drugs.
It was the first attempt at urban exploration by the 19-year-old, who joined a subculture of risk-takers motivated by architecture, photography or history who visit forgotten or restricted city sites.
"It's really about exploring your
