An 88-year-old woman, Mary Jane Alano, tragically passed away on Monday in Palos Heights, a suburb southwest of Chicago. Her death was linked to the dangerously cold weather that hit the area.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office confirmed that Alano died around 12:40 p.m. at a residence on Moorings Drive. Her primary cause of death was listed as hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease—a condition related to high blood pressure and narrowed arteries. However, the examiner noted that “probable cold exposure” was a contributing factor. The death has been ruled accidental.
This incident marks the first cold-related death in Cook County this year…