Oddities

Freezing to Death

A bizarre story from the Omaha World-Herald about a couple, apparently under the influence of methamphetamines, who froze to death in Nebraska despite the efforts of 911 operators to locate them:

The 911 dispatchers from four metro-area counties huddled by the phone with one another, trying to tie the threads that would lead them to the pair lost in a snowstorm.

They spoke brusquely and compassionately to Michael Wamsley and Janelle Hornickel. They chuckled among themselves about the bizarre descriptions detailed by the couple, who later tested positive for drugs.

They called Hornickel’s mother in Ord, Neb., hoping for insights. They sent officers to the couple’s apartment in Omaha and directed deputies frustratingly close to where the couple died some 20 miles from Omaha.

They tried whatever they could think of, and it wasn’t enough.

The transcripts are both horrifying and almost farcical sometimes. Haven’t listened to the audio yet.