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New details emerge after mum freezes to death in cemetery

A mother was ‘missed’ by police and froze to death after falling off her bike in a cemetery, an inquest has heard.

Jacqueline Parsons, from Hull in England, died in 2018 after she was forced to spend 17 hours in freezing temperatures after hurting her ankle in the fall on October 27.

HullLive reports Ms Parsons was found by police about 9.30am on October 28, despite being called just before 5pm the previous day to find her.

The inquest heard the 56-year-old mother was just over the legal alcohol limit and that, combined with her ankle injury and hypothermia, led to her death.

Jacqueline Parsons died in 2018 after freezing to death in a cemetery. Source: Facebook
Jacqueline Parsons died in 2018 after freezing to death in a cemetery. Source: Facebook

In a devastating twist, the inquest also heard the woman could have been saved if she was found when police were called by a man who heard her calling for help.

According to HullLive, the man tried to lift her but she could not stand due to her ankle injury. The man had left his phone at home so had to leave the cemetery to call the police.

HullLive reports the woman’s fiancé Malcolm Cuthbert became concerned after Ms Parsons did not return from a bike ride she left for at 9am.

“I tidied the home, ironed and wondered where she was and became angry that she was not home as we normally did things in the afternoon together,” he said.

“The later it got, the more I thought she was out on a drinking session [because she had been known to go out drinking before] and I presumed she was drunk somewhere.”

An inquest heard Jacqueline Parsons was in the cemetery for 17 hours. Source: Google Maps
An inquest heard Jacqueline Parsons was in the cemetery for 17 hours. Source: Google Maps

However after going for a drive to look for her, Mr Cuthbert became more concerned when he could not find her.

It was raining heavily and the next day he saw a news article about a woman aged in her 50s found dead in a cemetery.

He told the inquest he had “a gut feeling” it was her and added he blamed police for not finding her in time.

“It was the coldest day of the year when she went missing and the police search was at twilight, when they would have still been able to see her,” he said.

The inquest continues.

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