Iqaluit woman died of cold exposure: police

Sapaillaq Sagiatook died of hypothermia after she was discovered along this stretch of Apex Rd. in Iqaluit Jan. 20. (FILE IMAGE)

Nunavut police and the territory’s coroner’s office say a young woman found outside an Iqaluit residence last week died of exposure to the cold.

Members of the RCMP were called Jan. 20 to a home on the Apex Rd., where the woman was discovered lying under a parked vehicle.

Sapaillaq Sagiatook, 30, died of hypothermia due to “exposure to natural elements — cold,” the coroner’s office said Jan. 25.

Police did not say how long Sagiatook had been there or how she got there, but temperatures early Jan. 20 dropped to about -25 C in Iqaluit.

The RCMP said they do not suspect foul play in the woman’s death.

“Our thoughts go out to the family of Sapaillaq and community members who have been affected by this sudden loss,” police said Jan. 25.