Alicia Witt's parents froze to death inside their home, death certificates reveal
The parents of 'Walking Dead' actress Alicia Witt froze to death in their home, according to the state medical examiner. The actress explained that it was not for lack of trying on her part and that she did try to move them to a better house, but the old couple was quite adamant.
Alicia Witt's parents, 87-year-old father Robert H. Witt and 75-year-old mother Diane Witt, were found dead on December 20, 2021, in their house in Massachusetts. The cause of their death has been officially listed as 'probable cardiac dysrhythmia' due to exposure to the cold. Their house was quite old and neighbors said that the heating system was not working for a while.
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The Telegram and Gazette reported the news after obtaining death certificates for Robert and Diane, two months after their bodies were found.
The elderly couple was suspected to have died from hypothermia, a dangerous drop in body temperature caused by prolonged exposure to cold after one of them was found with a coat on. Their health had been in decline for a while as Robert had a history of coronary artery disease, hypertension, and multiple myeloma while Diane Witt was battling Parkinson's Disease.
The night before the bodies were found was the coldest of that month as temperatures dropped as low as 15 degrees, according to The Telegram and Gazette, who cited the National Weather Service.
Alicia Witt broke her silence about the shocking deaths last month, revealing that the old couple refused her help and hadn't let her inside for 'over a decade.'
The redheaded actress posted on Facebook, "It still doesn’t feel real." Witt also said that she tried to help her parents. "My parents were not penniless, they were fiercely stubborn, beautifully original souls, and with that, they made choices, that I couldn’t talk them out of. I did help them, in all the ways I could - in all the ways they would let me."
"I had no idea that their heat had gone out. I will never understand how or why they made the choice not to tell me this, not to let me help them with this. My heart is broken," she wrote.
She explained that she "begged, cried, tried to reason with them, tried to convince them to let me help them move, but every time, they became furious with me, telling me I had no right to tell them how to live their lives and that they had it all under control." She also shared that she had not been allowed in their house for 'well over 10 years and didn't know how bad it had gotten.
Witt added, "It was not for a lack of trying on my part or the part of other people who loved them."
The 46-year-old star said that a detective had told her over the phone that her parents were found dead after she had placed a welfare call, concerned over not having heard back from them. An autopsy was conducted but the authorities have yet to confirm the exact cause of death.