Lockridge woman dies from apparent high heat exposure

LOCKRIDGE — Emergency personnel in Jefferson County located the body of a Lockridge woman Tuesday who appears to have died from exposure to high heat.

At 2:40 p.m. on Tuesday, July 5, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office received a call of a missing person in Lockridge named Doris Dian Crocker, 72, who left her residence at around noon that day and never returned. The heat index was approximately 110 degrees at the time, and Crocker reportedly suffered from mild dementia.

Deputies from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office responded and coordinated a search party, including members of the Lockridge Fire Department, CARE Ambulance, and concerned citizens. Crocker’s body was located by the search party in a field north of Lockridge in the early evening of July 5. There were no immediate signs of trauma, and initial indications are that Crocker likely died due to exposure to the high heat, according to a news release from the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office.

The Jefferson County Medical Examiner Investigator responded to the scene, and an autopsy has been ordered to confirm cause and manner of death.