Woman dies in Dakotas with no propane to heat home
Feb 5, 2014, 7:06 PM | Updated: 7:06 pm
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – Authorities on a North Dakota reservation are investigating whether a woman found dead in a mobile home with an empty propane tank died from the cold.
Debbie Dogskin’s body was discovered Tuesday morning at her Fort Yates home.
Sioux County Sheriff Frank Landeis says the temperature on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation dropped to 1 degree below zero overnight.
Landeis says he believes Dogskin “just froze to death.” Autopsy results are expected by Friday.
People have been struggling to stay warm as propane prices more than doubled due to a national shortage.
Tribal officials have declared a state of emergency because about 5,000 homes on the reservation are heated by propane. Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II says many residents are on fixed incomes and can’t afford the more expensive fuel.
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