Coroner to Determine Whether Woman's Death Accidental or Suicide
The Lake County Sheriff's Office issued a release after finding the body of North Barrington resident Maria Carlsen.
Following is the Lake County Sheriff's Office news release regarding the death of Maria Carlsen.
Today, at approximately 11 a.m., Sheriff’s investigators received a tip from someone who said they may have seen Maria Carlsen last Monday afternoon, between 1 and 2 p.m., walking along Route 12 near Ivanhoe Road in unincorporated Wauconda. Based on this information, a team of sheriff’s investigators began searching the area. Shortly before 1 p.m., investigators located the body of Mrs. Carlsen on the east side of Route 12, approximately one mile south of Route 59.
Investigators recovered a water bottle and two prescription pill bottles from the scene. One of the bottles contained a generic form of Xanax and was prescribed to Mrs. Carlsen. The other bottle contained Seroquel, which is an atypical anti-psychotic medication that was prescribed to a relative of Mrs. Carlsen’s.
“Obviously this is a very tragic ending to an incredibly tragic case,” said Sheriff Mark Curran. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Carlsen family as they now begin the process of grieving the loss of their loved one.”
Mrs. Carlsen’s body was turned over to the Lake County Coroner’s Office where an autopsy will be scheduled in the coming days. There were no obvious signs of trauma to the body and investigators are considering Mrs. Carlsen’s death to be either accidental or a suicide at this time. However, no official cause of death will be determined until investigators have received the results of the autopsy.
Once the autopsy is completed, an update regarding Mrs. Carlsen’s cause of death will be released.
Jennifer Smith
6:46 pm on Thursday, February 16, 2012
Thank you Patch for reporting this story with the respect that such a tradegy deserves. I do not understand why the Courier,Herald,Tribune have to exploit suicide. if it was a suicide the family deserves a little privacy to grieve and absorb such a tradegy. What about the grandson who sees this on the Internet?? Show some class competitor and learn from Patch's reporting.
Margaret
11:57 pm on Thursday, February 16, 2012
I have a major problem from hearing this story. This woman packed her suitcase to join her family in Florida and had Valentine cards for her grandchildren. I also heard that there was a coat she would always wear that was left in her home. So after packing her suitcase she decided to go to a bar that had closed early and then decided to get out of her car and walk a bit, sit down, swallow pills and die? I am not buying this scenario. There is more going on here than meets the eye...
Ms. Thinker
12:03 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
I COMPLETELY agree... no offense to police officers, but any civilian with an associates degree has more education than the typical cop. And I graduated with a B.A. in Psychology... this does NOT sound like someone who killed herself. There were no indicators of suicide... and if the family thought she was capable of it, WHY LEAVE HER ALONE? No note... she left her phone at home (could've called for help or been found by GPS) and her favorite jacket? No one noticed their antipsychotic meds were gone? Whose were they? And men are more likely to commit suicide in a violent/obvious way like this... if a woman was to overdose, she would most likely do it at home, (probably alone) in a comfortable spot... not the middle of a dark field at night... and why ditch the car? Worried the authorities will get her in trouble for killing herself? Makes NO sense... they ruled it as suicide FAR TOO QUICKLY. I work near where she lived and where the body was found. The poor police work here is SAD. It was 3 miles from her home and it took them 3 DAYS --- 3 whole days in less than a 5 mile radius... and they're calling it a suicide?!? No way.
Margaret
12:27 am on Friday, February 17, 2012
Bottomline, no matter what the circumstances are, people who are serious about committing suicide do not usually plan near future events. It appears that she fully intended to see her grandchildren on Valentines Day and give them Valentine Day cards in person, or she would have mailed them. From what I've heard she also had a limo scheduled to pick her up. As a grandmother myself, I just cannot comprehend her actions. I also cannot believe that it's just assumed that this woman took her life without a toxicology report and a thorough investigation. I guess we'll know more in the next coming days. It's just so sad!
Ms. Thinker
12:05 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
It doesn't make sense that it's a suicide. Especially with the packed bags and valentines day cards. It looks very much like someone tried to make this look like a suicide and due to lazy police work, they succeeded...
laura zielinski
9:55 am on Saturday, February 18, 2012
I agree with you margreat its not maria style so sad to. laura
Ms. Thinker
12:07 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
if you knew her personally, first of all, my apologies for your loss.. second of all, were there any indicators that she was depressed at all? was she giving away valued/sentimental possessions, or saying strange things that seemed like "goodbye" ??? Also, yes, someone planning on killing themselves would probably not a) pack for a trip b) plan for a trip or c) write valentines day cards instead of a suicide note...
Ms. Thinker
12:08 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
As someone who works/lives close to where this happened, I'm VERY concerned about further investigations... rather than them closing the case. Can they really call it a suicide based on the autopsy alone? Because it seems to me they ruled it a suicide within an hour or so of finding her body... far too soon for an autopsy... and don't the police realize stuff just DOESN'T add up here???
friend
11:50 am on Monday, February 20, 2012
I believe the family only told the police that she may harm herself so that they would treat this missing persons case as a high risk case so that they would work a bit harder on finding her..(as they often do)..i do not actually believe her family thought she would really be in actual danger of harming herself...and as for whom the bottle of syriquil belonged to ,all i will say is it was completely normal for her to be carrying this family members prescription on her...she has for years.it is sad that the police just ruled out suicide so quickly when clearly there is much more then meets the eye here!
Ms. Thinker
9:59 pm on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
they didn't rule out suicide, they basically ruled out any possibility of murder, since they reported no evidence of foul play and coroner reports will determine whether it was "suicide" or "accident". Very sad that this case is not being pursued. Even so, the family saying that didn't seem to help... at least, if someone really did kill her, because what they said makes it seem more likely that she would hurt herself... obviously. It's just sad all around.
Margaret
10:40 pm on Monday, February 20, 2012
To Ms. Thinker
You and I are on the same page. I haven't heard any updates yet, but I believe we will hear something. I too agree, if the family thought she could do something to harm herself, why was she left alone? It all does not make sense... The woman was alert enough to realize she was taking a trip and packed and scheduled a limo. She was also of sound mind when she bought Valentine Day cards for her grandchildren, so one with any sense has to ask WHY would she out of the blue decide to take her life and in the way she did? I just pray that someone who has some authority, has the same questions that we do... Thank you very much for expressing your opinion on all the articles.
Ms. Thinker
10:02 pm on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
I usually don't do this, but thanks for appreciating/agreeing with my comments. I agree, it does seem like we're on the same page. A large amount of women have posted about this... many do not think it's suicide... I can only hope the authorities are doing their work... I understand if they have to "keep it under wraps" for a few days, but that does not entail other people lashing out at anyone who posts their own views on a public forum (like some have...) so I thank you for our thanks... because this happened close to me..... to a woman... so i care!!!
Ms. Thinker
10:03 pm on Wednesday, February 22, 2012
I meant, I usually don't comment on articles or log in to do so... I just felt very strongly about this case
Britmog
12:04 pm on Thursday, March 8, 2012
It is interesting that assumptions as to what happened are being made with only the "public" facts being known. Of course there is great conern as to what happened and for a thorough investigation to be made, but please only make assertions when the true facts are known and certainly do not bring the Police Depts reputation into disrepute.