The San Bernardino County Coroner’s Office is investigating the deaths of eight San Bernardino Mountains residents that have occurred since a series of snowstorms belted the area, including that of a 93-year-old woman who a relative said appeared to be healthy and a man who had been unable to receive dialysis treatments.
The coroner has responded to 13 deaths in the mountains from Feb. 26 to March 8, the office said Thursday, March 9. By comparison, there were 11 coroner cases in the mountains during an 11-day period from Jan. 1 to Jan. 11, according to the coroner’s website. Nine of those were from natural causes and two were accidental.
In addition to the eight deaths under investigation, one person died from injuries suffered when hit by a car and four others were either in hospice care or already in a hospital.
“When reviewing these deaths, the preliminary assessment is only one of these had a direct correlation to the weather. The decedent died at the hospital as the result of a traffic accident during the storm,” a news release said.
That victim, a 39-year-old woman, died at Bear Valley Community Hospital after the collision in Fawnskin.
Elinor “Dolly” Avenatti, 93, was found dead in her living room on March 6, said a great-niece, Valli Compton, 59, of Glendora. A neighbor broke down the door after Avenatti didn’t respond to knocks, Compton said. The power had gone out, leaving Avenatti without heat or the ability to call out on her landline, Compton said.
When Compton called on Feb. 28, Avenatti told her that the snow was preventing her from walking to her neighbor’s home.
“She sounded great when I talked with her,” Compton said. “She was a strong woman and very independent, so I don’t know what happened.”
The coroner said Avenatti had “a significant medical history,” and that there was “no evidence” that a lack of food or resources contributed to her death, based on a preliminary investigation. Compton said she was…
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