UPDATE: Ocean County, N.J. Woman Found Dead In Snow After Drinks With Neighbor, Authorities Say

Olivia Benito spent her last hours at a benefit at the Lakewood Elks and at a friend’s house for drinks before she set out in the bitter cold and wind for her townhouse on Davids Court in Lakewood.

She didn’t make it home.

She was found dead in the snow near a neighbor’s car early this morning. Benito was last seen alive by a neighbor at midnight, when she left to go home, only two doors down, a spokesperson for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said.

“The neighbor stated further that Benito, who had consumed a number of alcoholic beverages during the course of the night, departed her townhouse around midnight to walk home to her town home approximately two doors down,” said Al Della Fave.

Lakewood police received a 911 call of a woman found unresponsive near a townhouse unit at 525 Davids Court. They found Benito, 66, face down in the snow. The victim was pronounced dead at 7:26 a.m., Della Fave said.

“This morning at approximately 7:04 a.m. the neighbor went out to clean off her car and found the decedent face down in the snow,” Della Fave said. ”She attempted aid, dialed 911 and alerted the victim’s husband. The husband was under the assumption that his wife had decided to sleep at the neighbor’s home.”

The preliminary investigation found no outward signs of trauma or foul play. Lakewood police, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department’s CSI are waiting for the results of an autopsy from the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office, he said.