Mother, son buried alive in mammoth snowstorm — just feet from hospital
The bodies of a 75-year-old woman and her 49-year-old son were discovered buried in snow inside their car, just feet from a Rhode Island hospital, weeks after Winter Storm Fern dropped nearly two feet of snow across the state.
Irina Kozak and her son, Stanislaw Kozak, had been living in their white Kia Sorento for about a year. Authorities found the vehicle on February 11, covered in snow outside Miriam Hospital in Providence. Reports indicate that Irina Kozak may have been trapped next to her son’s body for more than two weeks before she died. The pair had parked their car at the hospital days before the storm hit, which dumped up to 20 inches of heavy snow across the region.
On January 28, Irina Kozak called a friend to report that she was trapped inside the vehicle. During the call, she said her son had not moved for two days. The friend contacted 911, telling dispatchers that Kozak was “disabled inside her white Kia Sorento” and “cannot get out,” and that her son had “passed away,” according to Providence Police Col. Oscar Perez. However, the friend did not know the car’s exact location, only that it was “at a park near Miriam Hospital.”
Police searched the hospital area for about an hour but were unable to locate the vehicle or make contact with Kozak. No additional leads emerged until February 11, when the Kia was finally found in the hospital parking lot.
Authorities said the deaths were “weather-related” and that underlying health conditions may have contributed. The National Weather Service reported that temperatures had dropped into the single digits on January 28, the day of the 911 call.
The mother and son were among more than 30 people who died during the widespread winter storm, which affected areas from New Mexico to Maine. Perez added that the department is reviewing its response to determine whether improvements can be made in future emergency situations.
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