8:52 p.m. ET, October 3, 2022
Elizabeth McGuire found dead in her home in Cape Coral, family says
From CNN's Christina Zdanowicz
Elizabeth McGuire, 49, was found dead in her Cape Coral, Florida, home Friday after Hurricane Ian tore through the area, her son told CNN.
Police told her son that his mother had died in her bed holding her cellphone and it looked like she died instantly, Andrew Chedester said.
Her family had last spoken to McGuire on Wednesday and was having trouble reaching her since then, Chedester said.
A Cape Coral Police Department detective knocked on his door Friday and told him of his mother’s death, Chedester said. He had already received a call from his mother’s ex-boyfriend just before that, he said.
“I can’t believe somebody I just saw the other day was completely gone,” Chedester, 24, said of his mom. “She was a friend when you needed it the most,” he said.
CNN also spoke to her mother Susan McGuire, who learned of her daughter’s death through Chedester. She said her daughter had been suffering from blood clots from deep-vein thrombosis and was on disability.
McGuire was stranded on Pine Island and had limited cell service during and after the storm. She was evacuated to the mainland on Sunday by the US Coast Guard and she has an appointment Tuesday at the funeral home to make arrangements with her grandson.
“One hundred blizzards will not cost you what one hurricane will cost you,” said McGuire, who had moved to the area from Maryland a few years ago. “My husband’s business whipped out, my daughter is dead. The destruction is massive. I never had a blizzard take anything away from me.”