The Walking Dead actress Alicia Witt’s parents died of exposure to the cold. Death certificates issued Wednesday, Feb. 23 and obtained by The Telegram & Gazette listed the cause of death for Robert Witt, 87, and Diane Witt, 75, as “probable cardiac dysrhythmia” due to the cold.
The release of the death certificates comes two months after Witt’s parents were found dead inside of their Worcester, Massachusetts home. In a statement, Witt shared that after not hearing from her parents in some time, she requested that a family member who lived close to her parents check on them. Witt said that “sadly, the outcome was unimaginable,” and Robert and Diane were found dead. The Worcester Telegram and Gazette reported at the time that emergency personnel were called to the home immediately. Lt. Sean Murtha of the Worcester police said in a statement, “I can confirm that police were dispatched to the residence and discovered a male and a female deceased.” Murtha added that “there were no signs of foul play” and that Robert and Diane’s deaths were “under investigation.”
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Firefighters were called to the scene to check the air quality inside of the home, though Worcester Deputy Fire Chief Adam Roche said, “There were no signs of carbon monoxide.” A neighbor told the outlet that Witt’s parents had been ill for “some time.” It had also been reported that Witt’s parents had been experiencing issues with their furnace. Local outlet Boston 25 News reported that temperatures in New England at the time plunged to around 15 degrees.
On Jan. 25, Witt spoke out about her parents’ tragic passings. In the post, the actress addressed the circumstances surrounding her parents’ deaths, explaining that she hadn’t “been allowed inside my parents’ home for well over a decade,” and her parents, who led private lives, “refused to allow workers into their house.” Witt said she begged, cried, tried to reason with them, tried to convince them to let me help them move – but every time, they became furious with me, telling me I had no right to tell them how to live their lives and that they had it all under control.” Witt also revealed that she was unaware her parents were without heat.
“I struggle, as much as I helped, with what else could I have done – short of petitioning the court system for taking control of two otherwise very sharp, very independent, very capable adults. They were a united, intertwined, indivisible force, determined to do things their own way,” she wrote. “Knowing they had each other – battling them the way I would have had to in order to do this truly felt like it would have destroyed them. I had no idea that their heat had gone out. I will never understand how or why they made the choice not to tell me this, not to let me help them with this. My heart is broken.”
Witt is best known for her portrayal of Alia in 1984’s Dune as well as her more-recent appearance as Paula in several episodes of The Walking Dead in 2016. Her other credits include starring as Nola Falacci in Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2007), Cheryl in Friday Night Lights (2009-2011), Autumn Chase in Nashville (2016), Nicole in The Exorcist (2017), and Zelda in Orange Is the New Black (2019), among many others.
