FREEZING winter weather took the lives of an elderly couple who got into trouble after driving down an isolated country lane.
The bodies of an 86-year-old woman, who was next to a car in a field in Aston Lane, near Frodsham, and her 87-year-old husband, who was nearby, were found on Friday at about 2.26pm.
It is thought the pair – who had travelled to the area from Winsford and were last seen at Gates Garage, Frodsham, last Wednesday when they refuelled the car – were there for two days before being found by Cheshire Constabulary officers.
The bodies were found on a public bridleway on land at Aston Grange Farm owned by Stephen Shaw, who described the incident as ‘a tragedy’.
He said: “I was shocked this has happened, it is very sad. The bodies were found by a walker on what is a track rather than a road. They had gone down to the field at the bottom but could not get back up.”
David Ainsworth, warden of St Peter’s Church, Aston Lane, said: “The couple had taken a wrong turn and got lost. The man had gone for help and couldn’t get back to whoever was in the car, and they’d frozen to death.
“In that particular area people wouldn’t go walking down there on a regular basis.
“The helicopter had been searching there for several days.”
Cheshire Constabulary spokeswoman Jacqui Hanson said: “An initial post-mortem examination showed the man died of natural causes, the other was inconclusive, further tests are to be done.
“How they came to be in that isolated area we do not know.”
It is understood there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths of the couple, who at the time of going to press had not been named.
