A great-grandmother who was found dead Monday morning in her Roseland driveway died of hypothermia, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Nellie Gordon, 90, was found around 8:40 a.m. in the driveway in the 9100 block of South Michigan, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. Family members say she was in sandals and her cane was on the ground beside her.
Gordon died of hypothermia, though Alzheimer’s, heart disease and the injuries she sustained from a fall were also cited as secondary causes, an autopsy found. Her death has been ruled an accident.
“It looks like apparently she came outside and was trying to get back in and was unable to get back into the house,” her granddaughter Lauren Davis said.
Gordon suffered from Alzheimer’s but was still able to live alone, family said. They added that she never wandered off in the past.
"My grandma was absolutely great, she came to Chicago at when she was 12 years old,” Davis said. She loved to cook and take care of family. She would help anyone she possibly could. She will be greatly missed.”
Gordon belonged to Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church where she sung in the choir for many years, family said. She leaves behind three children, four grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.
Family members don't know how long Gordon was outside.
