Authorities are calling the death of an Iowa woman who was found outside of an assisted living facility in the bitter cold "suspicious".

KCCI reports that Polk County officials received a call for medical assistance at around 6:30 a.m. on Friday, January 21. When they arrived at the Courtyard Estates at Hawthorne Crossing, they found a woman that was staying there had been found outside. The low temperature that morning was near -10. The facility houses people that suffer from dementia.

Police officials told KCCI that when deputies arrived, the woman was conscious and being treated inside of the facility. However, she later died at a local hospital. The cause of death has not yet been released. The Iowa Department of Inspection and Appeals told KCCI that facilities for people suffering from dementia are required to have an alarm system on each exit door. Reports show that Courtyard Estates was fined $1500 in the summer of 2020 for not having a policy or procedure for their alarm system.  The facility was later found to be compliant in 2021.

Monday, the Department of Inspection and Appeals was on site conducting their investigation. KCCI reports that the Polk County Sheriff's Office is also working to figure out exactly what happened. Police say they need to find out if the facility showed any neglect in allowing the woman to somehow exit the building.

The name of the woman who passed has not yet been released.

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