Retired Yukon doctor was intoxicated at time of fatal accident, coroner finds
Lis Densmore, 69, died of hypothermia after driving over an embankment last January
Dr. Lis Densmore, a retired and well-known Yukon family physician, had been drinking the night she drove off the road last January in Whitehorse, the coroner says.
Chief coroner Heather Jones's judgment of inquiry report, issued earlier this month, said Densmore's blood alcohol content at the time of the accident was 0.27 per cent — more than three times the legal limit.
Densmore, 69, had been driving home from a social event on Jan. 5 when she drove off an embankment near her home off Cowley Lake Road.
According to Jones's report, Densmore had left the event at around 8 p.m., because of illness. It was dark out and there was "moderate to heavy" snowfall at the time, the coroner says.
When Densmore couldn't be reached on the phone the next morning, a friend drove to her house to check on her.
Tracks from Densmore's vehicle were then spotted leading over a steep bluff, near her home. She had apparently failed to navigate a sharp turn on the road, the coroner says.
A neighbour climbed down the embankment and found Densmore's vehicle. Densmore's body was lying about 25 metres away.
The coroner's report says Densmore had suffered some small bruises, skin tears and fractured ribs from the vehicle accident, but "no significant injuries were identified that would have contributed to death."
Tracks in the snow showed that Densmore had climbed out of her vehicle and tried to find a path that led to her home. She died from hypothermia, the coroner ruled.
Weather conditions and alcohol intoxication were significant factors in the death, the report says.