Beth Walton

bwalton@citizen-times.com

ASHEVILLE - Authorities are still working to identify the body of a woman who was found dead Sunday evening along the French Broad River.

"She was located on land, still inside her sleeping bag," Christina Hallingse, spokeswoman for the Asheville Police Department, said Monday morning.

"The medical examiner responded to the scene and confirmed natural causes."

No foul play was suspected, Hallingse said.

A walker discovered the woman's body near a homeless encampment in the River Arts District. The woman was found on the side of the river opposite of New Belgium Brewery.

Other than the name of the individual, it is unlikely additional details will be available, Hallingse said.

The woman's death has put the entire homeless community on alert, said the Rev. Micheal Woods, executive director of Western Carolina Rescue Ministries, the largest provider of homeless services in the region.

"We want to know who it is," he said. "A life has been lost. This is a huge thing in our community. We don't want anyone's life to be marginalized here."

Members of Asheville's homeless community know and congregate with one another, Woods said. Staff at service providers around town will have to provide grief counseling to their clients, as they mourn themselves.

"If there was no foul play involved, then she died alone," he said. "That saddens us."

Temperatures dropped early Sunday morning to as low as 35 degrees Fahrenheit.

As the weather turns cold, more and more people will start to take advantage of emergency shelter, Woods said.

Many people don't understand how many homeless people choose to stay outside, he continued. Sometimes it has to do with addiction or mental illness. Other times, there is another reason.

"A situation like this brings, for us, the awareness of just how precious life is," he said.