Officials: Lakeville Woman Found Outside Died Of Hypothermia
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 32-year-old Lakeville woman found dead outsider her home during last week's frigid cold died of hypothermia, officials say, and alcohol appears to have played a role.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office said the cause of Andrea Marker's death was "hypothermia complicated by acute alcohol intoxication."
The office's report says Marker died just after 3:50 p.m. on Jan. 7 near her home on the 17000 block of Illinois Court.
Last week, police said there was evidence that Marker had been outside for as long as 20 hours before being found by her sister.
Police said that even if someone had spotted her first thing that morning, it would have likely been too late. She was believed to have been in the cold much of the previous night, when the overnight low was 15 below zero and wind chills were down to negative 30.
Marker lived with her parents, who were out of town. Her mother said last week that her daughter had a history of struggling with alcohol.
Marker's death remains under investigation, the medical examiner's office says.