Carbon monoxide inhalation kills Cape resident over the weekend

Lethal levels of carbon monoxide took the life of a Cape Girardeau resident early Saturday morning.

According to the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Bette Wiist, 81, accidentally left her car's engine running in the garage on Friday evening.

As Wiist slept throughout the night, the car's engine ran. Carbon monoxide was sucked in through the home's air-conditioning unit, which was in the garage, and dispersed into Wiist's home.

On Saturday morning, police believe Wiist woke up and ate breakfast at the kitchen table, where she passed out from the carbon monoxide fumes.

Cape Girardeau Police spokesman Jason Selzer said her sister and her neighbor discovered Wiist, still in her pajamas, at her kitchen table at about 8 p.m. Saturday.

The car's engine was left running from an undetermined time Friday evening until 8 p.m. Saturday, Selzer said. The car's fuel tank was on empty when it was eventually turned off.

Wiist's sister, Patricia Grasso, and neighbor Robert Flesher entered Wiist's home Saturday evening after they were unable to contact her during the day.

Grasso said the smell of fumes was overwhelming when they entered the home.

Carbon monoxide levels are measured in parts per million. Cape Girardeau assistant fire chief Mark Hasheider said the carbon monoxide level inside Wiist's home was more than 500 parts per million.

Exposure to anything more than 35 parts per million can be dangerous, even deadly, Hasheider said.

"Unfortunately she didn't have a carbon monoxide detector," Grasso said.

Firefighters recommend any resident with a gas appliance inside the home should have a carbon monoxide detector.

Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Clifton said the carbon monoxide-related death is one he doesn't see often. "It's a very unusual case," he said. "We don't know if she was carrying in groceries and forgot to turn the engine off or what happened."

Grasso, of Cape Girardeau, said her sister's death was a shock but that the family is doing well.

jfreeze@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246