A 25-year-old woman found collapsed in the snow could have died after falling in sub-zero temperatures after a night out, police said today.
The woman was discovered by a man walking his dog in Church Meadows, Deal, Kent, at 7.30am on Sunday morning.
Police are still investigating the cause of death but confirmed they are looking at the possibility that the woman, who was believed to be visiting the area, got into difficulties as she made her way to her sister’s house, which was near to where she was found.
A Kent Police spokesman said: “There are other possibilities we are looking out but one theory is that this is a tragic accident where a young woman was on her way home from a night out, but she didn’t make it to where she was staying.
“We don’t know if that was because of the cold, or she slipped or she was drunk or she became ill.”
Earlier, police said the woman was pronounced dead at the scene and the death was not being treated as suspicious but it was unexplained.
A post-mortem examination will be held later this week.
