Mundelein woman found dead in car

An autopsy is scheduled for a 57-year-old Mundelein area woman who was found dead Wednesday evening in her car in Lake Zurich, Lake County Coroner Richard Keller said.

In another case, Keller said autopsy results showed Gregory Myers, 48, of Grayslake, died of a heart attack while driving home through the height of the blizzard late Tuesday night.

Susan Smith, 57, of unincorporated Mundelein was discovered in her parked car in the parking lot of Alpine Chapel, located in the 1100 block of Heather Lane in Lake Zurich.

She was found at about 5 p.m. Wednesday night, Keller said, and an autopsy today will confirm whether the woman died of the cold or another medical incident.

“She did have a history of diabetes, so that could have had something to do with it,” he said. “We’ll know more after the autopsy results come in.”

Smith was reported missing by family members on Tuesday night, Keller said. She had set out just before the blizzard Tuesday to run some errands, which included a stop at the Alpine Church in Lake Zurich, where she worked.

Keller said she was pronounced dead at the scene after she was discovered Wednesday.

Myers was found by Lake County Sheriff deputies at about 11 p.m. on Route 45 near Grayslake Tuesday night.

Officials from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said early Wednesday it appeared Myers died from carbon monoxide poisoning, but added Keller would have to make a final determination.

Keller said, after tests were run, carbon monoxide was not the cause of death, but rather that Myers had a heart attack before his car running into the snow bank.

He said Myers, who had a history or heart disease, “just happened to be in his car” when he died, though said the stress of driving though Tuesday’s blizzard could have triggered the heart attack.

“I wouldn’t necessarily characterize it as a weather-related death at this point,” he said. “The stress of driving could have added to it, but it’s unclear if that was the case.”