Dune and The Walking Dead actress Alicia Witt's parents were mysteriously found dead at their Worcester, Massachusetts home in December 2021. Robert Witt, 87, and Diane Witt, 75, were found dead by a relative after the actress asked them to check on her parents as she hadn't heard from them in several days. The cause of death was not established at the time.
A state medical examiner has now revealed the cause of the actress' parents' death. Alicia Witt's parents froze to death inside their home. The cause of their death is officially listed as 'probable cardiac dysrhythmia' due to exposure to the cold, according to The Telegram and Gazette.
According to the death certificates obtained by The Telegram and Gazette, Robert had a 'history of coronary artery disease, hypertension, and multiple myeloma.' The dates of their death were noted as December 20, 2021, the same day their bodies were found in their home.
Citing the National Weather Service, the outlet reported that the previous night had been the coldest of that month. Neighbors noted that the couple didn't have a working heating system in their 'rundown' home for quite some time.
'My Parents were Not Penniless'
Breaking her silence over her parents' demise the Dune actress revealed last month that her parents denied her help and hadn't let her inside their house for 'over a decade.'
"Every time I offered to have something repaired for them, they refused to allow workers into their house," she noted in a Facebook post. Alicia, 46, noted further that she had no idea that their heating system had stopped working and that why they chose not to tell her about it.
"My parents were not penniless. they were fiercely stubborn, beautifully original souls, and with that, they made choices-choices that I couldn't talk them out of," she wrote.
The elderly couple was found dead without any signs of trauma. A space heater was found inside their home that needed repairs and their furnace was also not working. On top of it, while Robert was battling cancer, Diane had Parkinson's Disease.
The Elderly Couple Rarely Answered the Door
A neighbor told the Telegram and Gazette that the elderly couple mostly kept to themselves and rarely answered the door. "In the last four years, we haven't seen them at all," the neighbor said.
According to court records, the couple didn't have cable, a television, or a computer in their home. A neighbor, however, noted that Alicia Witt was involved in their life and would spend time with them whenever she was in the area. She would send a car to pick them up.
