CHICAGO (CBS) – An 83-year-old Chicago woman is the first cold-related death of the season in Cook County.
The Medical Examiner’s Office says a relative found Florence Hawkins unresponsive in her bed on the South Side on Tuesday.
An autopsy found Hawkins died of cold exposure and that heart disease was a contributing factor.
The National Weather Service reports that the low temperature on Tuesday was 17 degrees and Monday night’s low was 23 degrees.
Authorities say there were at least seven cold-related deaths in Cook County during the cold season of 2011-2012 with the first reported on Dec. 3, 2011.
