ST. SIMONS ISLAND – An elderly couple died while trapped in a home elevator after it became stuck between the second and third floors of their coastal Georgia home, and their bodies weren’t found until several days later, police said.
Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said Thursday that investigators found no signs of foul play. An autopsy was scheduled for later in the day at the state crime lab in Savannah.
“It’s just tragic,” Doering said. “We all know one day we’re going to die. This is one of those horrible ones where you’re stuck somewhere.”
Police found the bodies of Sherwood Wadsworth, 90, and his 89-year-old wife, Caroline, after a newspaper carrier called 911 Wednesday morning because papers had been piling up by the door for several days. A watermelon left on the couple’s doorstep four days earlier was still there, untouched.
Officers had to break into the home because the doors and deadbolts were locked. Once inside, they found no sign of the couple but noticed an odor, Doering said. Then they spotted the elevator doors and had to call firefighters to pry it open.