Police: Door alarms not audible at center where woman died

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) - Western Indiana police say an assisted living center where a woman died after wandering outside on a cold night had door alarms that were not audible.

Seventy-five-year-old Veronica Hoffman died Jan. 26 after being found in a courtyard outside Bethesda Gardens in Terre Haute.

Preliminary autopsy results found her death consistent with hypothermia.

Hoffman, who had Alzheimer's disease, left her room during a 20-degree (minus 6 Celsius) night. She was found in the building's courtyard and pronounced dead at a hospital.

The Tribune-Star reports that Vigo County sheriff's deputies say in a police report that an employee said one door leading to the courtyard had its alarm's volume turned way down and the other courtyard door's alarm was shut off.

The report also said the building's video cameras weren't functioning.

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Information from: Tribune-Star, http://www.tribstar.com