A day after a Brooklyn man was discovered dead in his snow-covered car, his grieving family described the devastation of finding him trapped and frozen inside the parked sedan, his fingers curled around the door handle.
Angel Ginel, 44, was found dead in his Lexus sedan Monday afternoon, a full day after he was reported missing by his wife, Ramonita Ginel. She became worried when he didn't return home from shoveling.
When she and her son found him in the car, "I knocked on the window, 'Angel, Angel, wake up,'" Ramonita recalled in tears Tuesday. "He wouldn't get up."
Their son frantically tried to help Ramonita remove the snow that had buried the Lexus; they said the snow had been plowed onto the side of the vehicle, trapping Angel inside.
"When I opened the door, he was cold and stiff, and his hand was curled up on the door handle like he was trying to get out," his son said.
The father of two had likely jumped in the car to warm up while trying to dig it out, the exhaust pipes blocked by snow, said Ramonita. The family said he was killed by carbon monoxide; the medical examiner is conducting an autopsy.
Ramonita said she and her husband had just bought the car he died in. Angel recently returned home last week from visiting his dying father in Puerto Rico, his wife said.
"He was a great person, great grandfather, great husband," said Ramonita.
Ginel's death was one of the two blizzard-related deaths reported Monday, bringing the total local toll to 17. In New Jersey, a 64-year-old woman was found dead in the snow in front of her Mahwah home, covered in snow with a shovel in her hand, police say.
Over the weekend, two other storm deaths were attributed to carbon monoxide poisoning inside a vehicle: a New Jersey mother and her toddler died in their idling car as the child's father shoveled out the snow that had buried the car.
The tailpipe was blocked with snow, and the mom and her son died.
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Fire officials say it takes just seconds for carbon monoxide to seep into an idling car when the tailpipe is blocked. A simulation by North Hudson Regional firefighters Tuesday showed CO levels soaring to 127 parts per million within a minute, then to a potentially deadly 1,200 parts per million within 7 minutes.
Anything higher than 9 parts per million is considered unhealthy.
Drivers who find themselves trapped in the snow should crack the window, fire officials urge.
"If you could run the car in intervals, that would be a smart thing, and have cross-ventilation in the car," said North Hudson Fire Chief Frank Montagne.
The death toll from the blizzard in the New York area stands at around 17, and 41 in total.
