A 22-year-old woman sent her family one last video message before she died trapped in her vehicle during Buffalo’s massive snowstorm.
According to WSOC-TV, Anndel Taylor was among at least 27 victims killed in Buffalo amid the historic blizzard, which has seen more than 40 inches of snowfall.
Taylor’s family told WSOC that she got caught in the snow while driving home from work in one of New York’s biggest cities.
“I don’t know if any of us really knew how serious it was, we didn’t see the news, we didn’t really know what was going on in Buffalo,” Shawnequa Brown, Taylor’s sister, said.
Taylor sent her family one last video of the snow piling up outside of her car.
“She was telling my sister that she was scared,” Brown said.
The 22-year-old called 911, but first responders weren’t able to reach her vehicle. Taylor planned to sleep out the storm in her car and then walk home, her mum said, but instead, she was found dead after being stuck for 18 hours.
Taylor’s mum believes her daughter died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Others have theorised that she may have died from hypothermia.
“The car was running, and the snow was still coming, so it blocked the pipes, the exhaust pipe,” she said. “Then after the car cut off, that’s when she iced up.”
The young woman’s death came between Christmas and Taylor’s 23rd birthday, the family said.
“A lot of crying, (she) still got presents under the tree,” Brown noted.
The family has launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for funeral expenses. (BIN)