Suburban woman dies from exposure

An 86-year-old woman found dead outside her South suburban home has become the 17th person in Cook County to succumb to the region’s especially cold winter.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office says Antoinette Diesness of Oak Lawn died of hypothermia and cold exposure. An autopsy also found that heart disease was a contributing factor.

Diesness was found Tuesday night.

According to the medical examiner’s office, her death was the 17th of the season in Cook County to be at least partly blamed on the cold.