Man Shoveling Sidewalk Finds Body in Snow

A 911 call was made just before 6 p.m. Monday to the 6800 block of Dobson in Niles after the man found the body of 55-year-old Elizabeth A. Lutz

A man shoveling his mother-in-law's suburban Chicago sidewalk discovered a body underneath the snow about 40 minutes into the task, police said.

Niles police responding to the 6800 block of Dobson after receiving a 911 call said they found the body of 55-year-old Elizabeth A. Lutz face down in the parkway.

After CPR attempts were unsuccessful, the woman was rushed to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where she was pronounced dead an hour later, police said.

Police said in a release that the man shoveling snow was the victim's son-in-law but a friend of the victim, who was at the scene at the time, said the man was a neighbor's son-in-law. Lutz's daughter also said the person who found the body was not Lutz's son-in-law.

The man told police he went to his mother-in-law’s home to shovel snow at about 5:15 p.m. Monday. When he arrived he noticed something in the parkway he thought was a garbage bag.

It wasn't until he was shoveling for about 40 minutes he discovered what he thought was a garbage bag was actually a corpse, police said.

The body showed no visible signs of injury and the woman was wearing clothes appropriate for the winter weather, according to a police report.

At this time police said there is no indication of foul play. An autopsy and toxicology report are pending.

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