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Woman Found Dead Outside Lakeville Home

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A woman in her 30s was found dead outside her south metro home Tuesday afternoon, and investigators say they are not sure if the extreme cold played a role in her death.

Family members found the woman outside her home on the 17500 block of Illinois Court in Lakeville, Minn. The local police department says it's treating the death as suspicious until the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office determines the cause.

The autopsy will be performed Wednesday, but Lakeville police said there was "evidence of possible hypothermia" at the scene.

"It's extremely rare that an incident like this does occur in the city of Lakeville," said Interim Chief John Kornmann. "It's been quite a number of years, I want to say at least 15-20 years, since we had an outdoor death like this during extremely cold weather."

Arctic air brought extreme cold to Minnesota this week, and Tuesdays' highs struggled to reach higher than a few degrees above zero. At such temperatures, frostbite can set in within minutes.

Police say investigators are now trying to retrace the woman's activities prior to death.

Her name has not yet been released.

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