Woman, Disabled Son Die in Snow Covered Car After Trying to Reach Police [View all]

Source: Newsweek

Published Feb 21, 2026 at 03:51 PM EST

An elderly homeless woman and her disabled son were found dead inside a snow-covered car in a Providence, Rhode Island, parking lot on February 11—nearly two weeks after a desperate call for help went unanswered, according to local news station WPRI.

Providence police identified the victims as 75-year-old Irina Kozak and her 49-year-old son, Stanislaw Kozak. The pair had been living out of their white Kia Sorento for approximately a year. Their deaths were ruled weather-related, with underlying health conditions also cited as contributing factors, according to authorities.

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According to WPRI, the initial call to Providence police came the evening of January 28 when temperatures had plunged to single digits—just three days after a storm buried the city under 20 inches of snow.

The caller was not Irina Kozak herself, but a Russian interpreter, the English-speaking boyfriend of a Russian-speaking friend Kozak had contacted. He had first gone to a police department in another town where officers directed him to call Providence police.

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/woman-disabled-son-die-in-snow-covered-car-after-trying-to-reach-police-11561541