DuPage authorities probing two deaths

Preliminary autopsy results show frigid temperatures may have contributed to the death of a 48-year-old Addison woman who was discovered on a sidewalk early Sunday morning, officials said.

Meanwhile, authorities were trying to determine if the weather was a factor in a Wheaton man's death.

Addison police found Penny M. Carlson's body partially covered with snow about 6:45 a.m. several blocks from her home on the 500 block of South Harvard Avenue.

Officials at the DuPage County coroner's office said a Monday autopsy showed Carlson was exposed to cold weather before her death.

"There are indications that would lead us to believe that freezing temperatures may have contributed to her death," Chief Deputy Coroner Charlie Dastych said.

What's unclear is whether natural causes were a factor. It's also unclear when she died.

Authorities say she was walking home from a local establishment when she apparently collapsed.

Dastych said there are no signs of suspicious circumstances.

"There's no indication of foul play," he said. "There's no indication of trauma at this point. We're really not quite sure overall what may have happened other than the autopsy has shown us on a preliminary basis that she was exposed to the cold elements."

Cold weather also could have been a factor in a 53-year-old Wheaton man's death.

About 1:45 p.m. Sunday, Wheaton police found the man's body in a vehicle parked in the driveway of his home on the 400 block of South Knollwood Drive. It appeared the man had been dead for several days, officials said.

"We don't know yet," Dastych said. "But all indications are that it was probably a weather-related death."

Carlson was a teacher's aide who lived with her three children and granddaughter. Neighbors described her as a happy, caring mother and grandmother who would do anything for her children and friends.

Funeral arrangements for Carlson are pending.