“When a person disappears without a trace, often the most critical information is hidden in their actions and words in the days before they vanished,” says the narrator of ID Channel’s TV series ‘Disappeared‘.
According to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office, Stacey Nicole English, who was reported missing in December, died of hypothermia. Her death has been ruled accidental.
Hypothermia is a clinical term that means prolonged exposure to external cold temperatures, which causes internal body temperatures to drop dangerously below normal.
“Based on a combination of information sources including the autopsy, the sequence of events and circumstances, toxicology results, medical and mental health records, and statements of witnesses and acquaintances, the most likely cause of Stacey English’s death is cold exposure complicating underlying neurological and psychiatric disorders,” the statement reads.
The Atlanta Journal reports that “English’s badly decomposed body was found, nestled in a hole created by an uprooted tree, on Jan. 23 by two men searching for scrap metal.” Her body was found less than a mile from where English’s Volvo was left abandoned in a business park near Lakewood Amphitheater. The Volvo’s engine was still running when police found it.
There was no evidence of bodily harm, and toxicology tests showed no evidence of a drug overdose, the Medical Examiner’s Office said in a statement.
According to friends, English, 36, was acting “out of character” and talking about the “end of the world” in the days leading up to her disappearance. She was on medication and she was previously hospitalized following a suicide attempt, according to the police report.
It is likely that English’s mental condition deteriorated over the holidays and, due to paranoid delusions, she parked her car and wandered into the woods near I-85 and SR 166, where her body was later found.
