The celebratory mood of the holidays was tempered in three states by the deaths of residents who wandered outside of their senior living communities and succumbed to freezing temperatures.
In Ohio, Frances Washington, 72, was found outside of Forest Hills Place, a Cleveland Heights assisted living and memory care community, on Dec. 26 by firefighters driving by. Washington was found on the ground near a corner of the building.
Although Washington’s cause of death remains unknown, Cleveland.com, the website affiliated with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, reported that it is believed that she died from severe weather conditions from Winter Storm Elliott, which brought strong winds and frigid temperatures to the area.
Meanwhile, in Michigan, a snowplow driver found an 82-year-old resident “curled up in the snow” outside of her independent living, assisted living and memory care community Dec. 23.
A driver clearing the parking lot of Timber Ridge Village in Bath Township saw the woman and notified caregivers at the community, who took the woman inside. McClatchy News reported that staff members and first responders tried treating the woman, who was taken to the hospital and later died from “extreme cold exposure.”
Community staff members reportedly told the news outlet the woman walked her dog every morning and likely became caught in the winter storm. Bath Township police continue to investigate her death.
And in Wisconsin, Kenosha police are investigating the death of an 89-year-old resident of the Parkside Manor assisted living and memory care community.
Police were called to the community Dec. 19 following a report of a deceased woman found outside of the building, according to the Kenosha News.
Police indicated that the death was weather-related but indicated that they would investigate it with the potential for criminal charges being referred to the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office.
In a statement to the news outlet, Parkside Manor said that it was conducting a “thorough investigation” into the resident’s death. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services’ Division of Quality Assurance also is investigating.
