Woman spends 30 hours inside vent

OGDEN — A woman remained hospitalized Tuesday after spending nearly 30 hours trapped upside down in a floor vent.

Ogden police were called Monday evening to a home on the 100 block of Patterson Street by a couple who hadn't heard from their 55-year-old aunt.

"They're used to hearing from her on a daily basis," Ogden Police Lt. Scott Sangberg said Tuesday. "Her car was there, but her house was locked, and she wouldn't answer the phone."

An officer called for a locksmith who came and unlocked the door. Once inside, they could hear someone calling for help.

"They found her in a heat duct in the floor upside down," Sangberg said.

The petite, 110-pound woman was about 3 feet inside the large floor vent. Firefighters were called to help free her.

"They had to extricate her by dismantling the duct in the basement by the furnace connection," Sangberg said.

The woman was being treated for cuts and bruises at Ogden Regional Medical Center. Police said she had been there for maybe a day or more.

"What she was doing, she said, was vacuuming," Sangberg said. "She was cleaning the cold air and warm air ducts. It's an older home and they're on the floor and they're big, and she fell in."

— Ben Winslow

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