‘Pure ice.’ Family of Kentucky winter storm victim says she fell after leaving home

A 72-year-old Whitley County woman died of hypothermia and a significant fall, marking Kentucky’s first confirmed death connected to Winter Storm Fern, Gov. Andy Beshear said Tuesday morning.

“Kentucky, I’ve got some sad news to share. We’ve confirmed one fatality in Whitley County with the passing of a 72-year-old woman due to hypothermia. Please join me in praying for her family during this difficult time,” Beshear said in a Facebook post Monday night.

At a Tuesday morning news conference to update Kentuckians on the storm, Beshear addressed Veach’s cause of death.

“We’ve received some questions about the cause of death. We want to be respectful to that family. There are a lot of factors that can contribute,” he said.

The family previously raised concerns to the Herald-Leader and other media regarding the stated cause of death, saying the victim fell.

“According to the Department of Health, hypothermia did contribute to her passing, but she also suffered a significant fall. More than anything we want her family to know that our thoughts and our prayers are with them,” said Beshear. “This is a tough time, and we don’t want anything to contribute to their pain.”

Whitley County Coroner Andy Croley told the Herald-Leader Tuesday morning his office did not respond to Veach’s death.

“This was not a coroners case,” Croley said. “The hospital did not notify my office of her death.”

Asked for more specifics on the cause of death, officials with the Kentucky Department of Health and Beshear’s office referred the Herald-Leader to the remarks Beshear made at the news conference Tuesday morning.

Dale Byrd on Monday night told the Herald-Leader the woman Beshear identified was Byrd’s mother, Betty Veach.

Byrd said Veach has had dementia since late 2020 and that she was always watched by family members.

Byrd said just before 1 p.m. Sunday, a family member was with his mother in her home, but she slipped out a back door.

Family members immediately began looking for his mother and called 911, Byrd said.

Veach had trouble walking, but made her way to a train track right beside her house, Byrd said.

“It was pure ice and had a slope,” Byrd said. “She made it to the top of it, slid backwards and hit her head on the railroad track and fractured it in three places. The bleeding in the brain is what killed her.”

A firefighter and family friend was driving by as soon as the 911 call came in, he said, and his mother was found at 1:20 p.m. Sunday. She was taken to the hospital where she died, her son said.

Family members are questioning the report that Veach died of hypothermia. Byrd said she had a temperature of 98.1 at the hospital.

People wanting to donate to the family can do so through Harp Funeral Home in Jellico, Tennessee.

The storm brought several inches of snow to much of the state, and plunged Kentucky into freezing temperatures.

The state is investigating three additional deaths that could be related to the weekend’s winter storm, Beshear said Tuesday at the news conference on the state’s response to the storm.

Beshear’s spokesperson Scottie Ellis said Monday night, “This is the only death we can confirm at this time.”

This is a developing story and may be updated.

This story was originally published January 26, 2026 at 6:50 PM.