Polk County officials identify woman who died after being found outside Bondurant assisted living center

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a woman found outside a Bondurant senior living home in below-zero temperatures Friday.

Polk County Sheriff's Lt. Ryan Evans said at about 6:25 a.m. Friday deputies responded to Courtyard Estates at Hawthorne Crossing on a medical assist call. The facility is a senior living home for people with Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Deputies found a "lethargic" 77-year-old woman outside the facility with temperatures around 8 degrees below zero, Evans said. The woman was identified Wednesday as Lynne Harriet Stewart.

Staff members attempted to warm her up inside. Then she was taken to a hospital where she died, Evans said.

The facility is managed by Jaybird Senior Living, which manages facilities in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Kentucky.

Memory care facilities in Iowa are required to have an alarm connected to each door in a dementia-specific program, according to the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals which governs assisted living facilities.

A manager from Courtyard Estates did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Evans will release the woman's name later, he said.

The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals is investigating the incident and will make the investigation publicly available when it is complete, said Stefanie Bond, a spokeswoman for the department. Evans did not rule out criminal charges being filed, but stressed the facts of the investigation will dictate if that happens.

"They want to put together a timeline. They want to figure out who was there, what was going on and what led to the actual incident of her dying," Evans said. "It's very confined to that facility."

Chris Higgins covers the eastern suburbs for the Register. Reach him at chiggins@registermedia.com or 515-423-5146 and follow him on Twitter @chris_higgins_.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa officials investigate death of woman at assisted living home