MORELAND HILLS, Ohio -- A longtime Moreland Hills resident and 31 of her dogs were found dead inside her vehicle this week in what authorities suspect was a suicide.



Moreland Hills interim police chief Dale Canter on Thursday said the woman's car was still running inside the garage of her home when officers arrived to the scene Monday.



Canter said the woman left a suicide note in her house. The Cuyahoga County medical examiner has not determined her cause and manner of death. Canter said a man whom the woman had hired to care for a number of cats she owned contacted police when he found her unresponsive in the car.

Canter could not say how long the woman had been dead before she was found. The 62-year-old woman was last seen alive Sunday.

Police found various prescription vials in the car's console.

Most dogs inside the car were puppies. Authorities suspect one dog managed to survive by jumping out of the car and getting air from a small opening by the closed garage door.

A relative of the woman was given the surviving dog. The cats' keeper is caring for the animals temporarily.