Elderly woman freezes to death after going to aid of wheel-chair bound husband

Maria and Roy Riffe lay just 20 yards from each other, both unable to move

The couple spent the night on the lawn of their home close to this lake (Twitter )

An elderly woman froze to death after she went to the aid of her husband who had fallen out of his wheel-chair.

Reports said Maria Riffe, who herself used a walking frame, slipped and fell herself, after trying to assist her husband, Roy Riffe.

The couple lay 20 yards from each other all night, both unable to move. He survived because he was wearing a jacket and fleece trousers, whereas his wife was only wearing a dress

Police have said that an autopsy showed the elderly woman died of hypothermia (CBS)

Mr Riffe, 86, had been using a motorised wheelchair to go down a concrete walkway at their home in Eatonton, Georgia, when he ran off the path and fell. His wife then tried to help him

Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said that a post-mortem examination showed Mrs Riffe had died from hypothermia. Her husband has been released from hospital.

"It was a very tragic situation," he said.

Neighour Crystal Pittman told CBS that she had known the couple for decades.

“I’m devastated, devastated. First of all that nobody told me, I had no idea, and it makes me really sad that Miss Maria died that way, and that nobody was able to find her,” she said.