A Buffalo woman came out telling her daughter she was coming right back. They found his body a few hundred meters from his home

Buffalo, New York
CNN
—

Casey Maccarone’s mother has always been something of a superwoman, but still, when Monique Alexander decided to go out on Christmas Eve, Maccarone got worried.

It would have been a simple decision any other day, but a blizzard was setting in – one that would leave parts of western New York under more than 50 inches of snow.

Maccarone was already feeling anxious looking at notifications of store closures on Facebook, she told CNN.

But his mother wanted out and Alexander, 52, said she would be right back without mentioning where she was heading. Maccarone, who had been living with Alexander since August, said she just assumed her mother was trying to get to the stores before they closed.

Alexander never came back. His body was discovered a few hundred meters from the house.

“We were waiting for her to come home. I knew right away that something was wrong, so I kind of accepted it instantly, but it’s hard to know she was out that long, because there was no emergency responders cleared out,” Maccarone said, speaking outside of his family. home on Wednesday.

Alexander had been through severe storms before and she walked everywhere.

« She always felt like a superwoman and invincible, so I guess she just thought she could handle the conditions, » Maccarone said. “I really can’t say anything to my mum, she’s going to do what she wants to do. I guess she just thought she was strong enough for it.

She heard cries for help during a deadly winter storm. His actions saved a life

Alexander left around 3 p.m. After a few hours, Maccarone posted about his mother to a Facebook group for Buffalo residents enduring the increasingly calamitous weather. About 15 minutes later, a stranger messaged her and described her mom’s coat and blue jeans. She confirmed that it was Alexander and asked him if he had seen her.

« Can I call you? » Maccarone said he asked her.

Once on a video chat, it immediately broke down. The man told him he had washed ashore and was walking when he saw Alexander in the snow. He moved her body out of the elements, under the awning of a business where she wouldn’t be buried in the snow.

Later, the National Guard would recover his body. Alexander is among at least 37 people who have died in Erie County, 17 of whom were found outside, officials said, though they add the total will almost certainly rise.

Maccarone said the family had lost their rock and someone they could rely on for everything.

“My children lost their grandmother, and that was her most important role in her life…being a good grandmother,” she said. « And now they only have memories. »

See the images Anndel Taylor sent to her family