A Medic-Alert-type device may have saved the life of an elderly LaPorte County woman found dead Sunday outside her home from exposure to the cold, in the opinion of a coroner.

Mary Labounty, 84, of the 8800 block of Indiana 8, LaCrosse, was found by a friend near her back door with her golden retriever by her side.

Chief Deputy LaPorte County Coroner John Sullivan ruled the cause of death to be exposure and hypothermia.

It appears that Labounty was locked out of her house when she went outside to feed raccoons and opossums that came into her yard, Sullivan said.

"She was known to feed them (wild animals) scraps," Sullivan said.

He estimated Labounty had been outside less than 24 hours, probably since Saturday afternoon before dark, in part because the dog was in good shape Sunday.

Also, no lights in the house were on, he said.

The inside door was open, he said, but the handle from the aluminum storm door had broken off and she had cut her hand trying to get inside.

Sullivan said he believed she lay down by the porch with the dog to keep warm.

"A low cost Medic-Alert necklace, where you push the alarm button, could have made all the difference," he said Monday. "It’s quite sad."

Labounty lived about a mile from her nearest neighbor.

She was discovered by a friend from Knox who came up to look after her about every other day, Sullivan said.

The chief deputy coroner said he had spoken at some length Sunday with Labounty’s daughter in Virginia.

She had tried to convince her mother to have a Medic-Alert alarm, but she would have no part of it, according to Sullivan.

Labounty was an independent woman, who loved living at her country home, but she was diabetic and very frail, he said.

The friend who found her took her to do her shopping and errands because she did not drive, according to Sullivan.

He checked on her every other day and felt badly when he found Labounty, Sullivan said.

With temperatures as cold as they have been over the weekend, frostbite can occur in less than 30 minutes.

Officials remind people that more than half of all hypothermia deaths occur in people over 65 years old, so checking on older relatives and friends is important.