Woman, 66, freezes to death on Toronto driveway after her cries for help ignored

TORONTO - A 66-year-old woman, who was found without vital signs on a Toronto driveway in the bitter cold, died after no one answered her cries for help, police said Monday.

Police called it a "tragic death" that might have had a different outcome, if only someone had called them.

A newspaper delivery woman found the woman at about 5:30 a.m. Monday on Kennaley Cres. in the Brimley Road and McNicoll Avenue area, just a block away from her home, police said.

It's believed the woman, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, had wandered away from her home in -20 degree temperatures around 2 a.m., police said.

Sgt. David Dube said some neighbours heard the woman crying out in distress in the driveway, but no one called 911 or came to her aid.

"I can tell you around 2 a.m., through our investigation, there's a couple of neighbours in the area who did hear a scream," said Dube.

"We do not suspect foul play. We believe she was distraught and was perhaps looking for help," he said.

"I think one of them actually saw this person in a bit of distress but didn't know what was going on but did not call us," added Dube.

The veteran officer, who's been on the force for 24 years, said he was "somewhat surprised" no one called police, noting it is a good community. He urged people to call police immediately if they hear someone screaming for help.

"If you're going to be a community member I think we have an obligation to look after one another and do the right thing," said Dube.

"I think if someone would have called the police right away there could have been a different outcome," he added.

Police say the woman's husband had last seen his wife about 2 a.m. When he woke up and she wasn't there, he called police and a search was launched about 4:45 a.m., Dube said.

When she was found, the woman wasn't wearing her coat or glasses and she had no pulse.

"Our officers tried CPR. Due to her condition, the hypothermia, the chest compressions were difficult," said Dube.

Police said finger marks could be seen on a vehicle in the driveway where the woman had likely tried to pull herself up off of the ground.

There were also scratch marks on the screen door to the home and Dube said he suspects the woman may have tried to get inside.

The woman was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead at 7:05 a.m.

Toronto has been under an extreme cold weather alert since Saturday.

The city sends out the alerts when the temperature drops below -15 C, with or without the windchill.

All I can think of is this is pretty much typical of the society we now live in no one wants to get involved. Its really very sad and to those people that don't want to get involved I put this to you, think what if this was your grandmother,mother,sister a family member that died this way would you want to have gotten involved then or have at least the hope that some stranger would help them?