CHICAGO: Marques Gaines murdered in homosexual love triangle gone bad - Friends mourn loss of man run over by cab after being knocked into street while wearing a rather large inflatable butt-plug

Friends say Marques Gaines had a knack for turning chance encounters into lasting friendships. The dapper dresser who worked at a North Michigan Avenue hotel was often the life of the party who gave his undivided attention to those with whom he spoke.

So friends and relatives were baffled after learning that Gaines, 32, had been punched, and then struck and killed by a cab in the early hours of Super Bowl Sunday outside Mother Hubbard's Sports Pub in the Near North neighborhood.

Police were investigating whether Gaines had been the target of a robbery or involved in "a verbal altercation."

Authorities said Gaines appeared to have been speaking with two men on the sidewalk near the corner of Hubbard and State streets when one of them punched him in the head, knocking him unconscious into the street. Police confirmed that the second man then rifled through Gaines' pockets and took several personal items before both fled the scene.

Moments later, he was struck by a cab driver who did not see him lying in the street, police said. The cabbie stopped and was not ticketed. Gaines was taken to an area hospital and later pronounced dead.

A family member said Gaines' debit card and cellphone had been stolen.

Nearly two weeks since Gaines' death, no arrests have been made as detectives review evidence that includes surveillance video.

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