Elderly couple found dead in South Carolina bedroom after home heater reached 1,000 degrees
CBSN
Two elderly people in South Carolina were found dead in a bedroom during a wellness check last week, with police saying that the home's heater had reached 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit – so hot the victims' bodies had exceeded 106 degrees.
In a police report obtained by CBS News, an officer said that he went to their residence on Jan. 6 to conduct a wellness check after their family had not heard from them in three days. Officers had to enter the home through the bedroom window, at which point the pair – 84-year-old Joan Littlejohn and 82-year-old Glennwood Fowler – were found dead in their bed. There were no signs of a struggle or foul play.
The responding officer said they "noticed the residence was extremely hot" as soon as they entered. And when medics went to obtain the victims' body temperatures, he recorded each at over 106 degrees Fahrenheit – the highest his device would register.
