Woman dies in cold; Milwaukee police say 911 calls did not go through

MILWAUKEE - A South Milwaukee woman had just gotten off from work and was waiting for the bus when she slipped on ice and fell. She never made it home. 

"It just hasn’t set in for a lot of people right now," said Shannon Eckert, a longtime friend of 49-year-old Jolene Waldref. 

There is disbelief following Waldref's death – after the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office said she slipped on ice, fell and possibly froze to death on Monday, Jan. 15. 

Jolene Waldref

"It really just isn’t real," Eckert said. 

Waldref was the mother of two. 

"She always had a smile, always had time to talk. She was a caring person," Eckert said. 

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Paramedics found Waldref unresponsive in a snowbank near 76th and Congress. A report said Waldref slipped and hit her head on a gate near a bus stop. Waldref's phone was unlocked and it showed she attempted to call 911 shortly before her death. 

On Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 23, Milwaukee police said it "does not appear the calls went through."

"I hope she didn’t feel anything. It’s just awful," Eckert said. 

Surveillance shows people and cars passed by Waldref without stopping. 

A Go Fund Me set up for Waldref's daughters said it took an hour-and-a-half before someone found her – and then first responders arrived. 

"She was out there for an hour and a half. Nobody saw her? Nobody helped? That’s awful. It could have been prevented," Eckert said. "She was just always around for people."

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Friends say Waldref's car recently stopped working, so she had to use the bus to get around. It was a frigid day when this death happened. The medical examiner's office is working to find out if hypothermia played a role in her death.