Woman Dies in Auto Heated by Coal Stove

A 40-year-old North Hollywood woman died Monday, apparently from asphyxiation, when she lighted a coal stove to keep warm in her parked car, authorities said.

The woman, whose name was not released pending notification of relatives, was discovered dead at 2 a.m. by Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies, Deputy Lynda Edmonds said. The woman was slumped in the seat of her car, with the windows rolled up, in the 19800 block of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.

A small coal stove on the floor of the vehicle was still on when the body was discovered, Edmonds said. She said detectives were calling the death accidental.