Drama after prom

Alarm over woman’s body found in a lonely field

Police officers reconstruct the tragic events leading to her death in the Mostviertel region.(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

A 46-year-old woman died on her way home from the fun carnival celebrations in the Mostviertel region (Lower Austria). After the body was found, a violent crime was feared, but investigations revealed that the woman had probably frozen to death.

The traditional "Musi-Gschnas" in Haidershofen in the district of Amstetten had been a fun and lively affair. The sounds of the "Haiho" music association encouraged lively dancing. Sometime after midnight – Ash Wednesday had already begun – one of the visitors set off for home. "It would have been three to four kilometers to her house, where she lived alone with her mother," said investigators, who were initially alerted to a "suspicious death" by local police.

Passersby discovered the dead woman
At first, the room was even suspected of being the scene of a horrific violent crime against the woman. After finding the lifeless body of the 46-year-old, two joggers and a woman out for a walk feared the worst: murder by one or more unknown perpetrators.

Investigation into the cause of death
However, an initial examination of the scene quickly revealed that she had died of natural causes in a lonely and bitterly cold field near Haag. There were no signs of injuries on the body that would have indicated an attack with a stone or even a weapon. Investigators are now looking into how the carnival visitor might have died.

Freezing cold proves fatal
In any case, she is believed to have left the festival, held at the former waste collection center in the Vestenthal district, already somewhat intoxicated. Criminal investigators from St. Pölten were able to reconstruct that the woman apparently stumbled on a dirt road, which is particularly dark, and fell into a lower-lying field. From there, she was unable to get back to the road. The Mostviertel woman probably froze to death alone and helpless...