FAYETTEVILLE — Investigators believe a woman’s death may have been linked with past health complications and cold weather.
Lina Waldrop, 46, was found dead by police Saturday morning in a wooded area off School Avenue, near Pinnacle Foods.
Waldrop had a history of heart disease, said Fayetteville Police Cpl. Rick Crisman. She reportedly spent Friday night in the woods with a man, despite freezing temperatures.
“She and another guy got some booze, drank it all and passed out,” Crisman said. “He left and didn’t come back until the following day. That’s when he found her. The coroner is saying it was a heart attack, but I’m pretty sure the cold weather played a role too.”
Jon Woodward, director of Seven Hills Homeless Center, said Waldrop stayed at the center an average of three times per month.
The facility, which serves homeless individuals in Northwest Arkansas, offers emergency shelter during the day. Waldrop reportedly began utilizing the organization’s services in 2006.
“With all the cold weather we’ve had lately, we’ve been very busy,” Woodward said. “We don’t have a set number as far as capacity so we don’t turn people away. Usually, we just ask people to rotate inside and outside.”
Though Seven Hills offers a variety of individualized programs and housing assistance aimed at helping homeless individuals become selfsuftcient, Woodward said Waldrop only took advantage of the center’s most basic services, including food, water and temporary shelter.
“She was the type of client who stayed away from people as much as possible and didn’t want to engage in any of our case management services,” he said. “We really tried to build a relationship with her and engage her, but we were never able to do that at the level we would have liked. All we could do was assist her with the basic needs she would allow us to.”
Woodward said he wasn’t aware of any direct family tied to Waldrop in the area. Typically, he said, she came to the center alone.
“I don’t know of any other incidents involving a homeless person freezing to death in this area,” he said. “But one person is too many.”
Maj. Tim Williford, area commander of the Salvation Army in Northwest Arkansas, said he didn’t have any record of Waldrop using the organization’s overnight shelter services.
“One thing we’ve found is that there are folks who, for one reason or another, prefer not to come in,” he said. “Some people prefer to wrap up in sheets of plastic or sleeping bags and stay outside. I’ve never understood that.”
Mental illness often plays a role in a person’s decision to sleep outside, Williford said. About one in four homeless individuals have some form of mental disorder, he said, compared to about one in 10 nonhomeless residents.
“It can be anything from depression to psychotic disorders to antisocial tendencies,” he said. “A lot of them would rather sleep out in the woods than mingle with people in society.”