SOUTH LOOP — A woman was found dead of hypothermia Sunday inside a stairwell in the parking garage at the South Loop Mariano's store, officials said.
The unidentified woman, believed to be about 50 years old, was found unresponsive at 4:51 p.m. Sunday in an emergency stairwell of the garage at the store, 1615 S. Clark St., police and a company spokeswoman said. She was pronounced dead there.
Police are still investigating, but the Cook County Medical Examiner ruled Wednesday she died of hypothermia.
The high temperature in Chicago on Sunday was 53 degrees at 4:22 p.m. But it had been as cold as 29 degrees Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
A manager at the store deferred questions to a corporate spokeswoman.
The spokeswoman, Amanda Puck, said store employees found the woman in an emergency stairwell for the parking garage and not in the store itself.
"Store personnel immediately called 911 and first responders took control of the situation at that point," Puck wrote in an email.
She said the stairwells have emergency exits at street level but are not supposed to be accessed by the public. Mariano's security is working with the Chicago Police to investigate the incident.
