Coroner: Woman Found Dead In NY Lake With Child Clinging To Her Body Likely Died Of Heart Attack
CARMEL, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A heart attack probably caused the death of a woman whose body was found in the middle of an upstate lake with a 6-year-old girl clinging to it.
Putnam County Coroner Dr. Hari Chakravorty said an autopsy revealed that Pamela Kaner did not drown. The 59-year-old woman suffered from hypertensive heart disease and "did suffer a heart attack,'' he said.
The finding is preliminary until toxicology tests are completed, he said.
Two men and a woman were using one of the row boats on Lake Gleneida in Carmel on Monday afternoon when they spotted the crying child holding onto the body of her babysitter approximately 100 feet from shore, police said.
The girl, whose name has not been released, told police that Kaner took her into the water and was holding her when something went wrong.
Swimming is forbidden in the lake because it is part of the New York City water supply.
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