Coroner’s office formally IDs woman who died after falling into trash chute at high-rise apartment

DAYTON — The coroner’s office has formally identified the woman who died after being stuck in a Dayton high-rise building’s trash compactor.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Woman dies after falling from 7th floor trash chute at high-rise apartment building

The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office said Thursday that Kathie Lee Griffin, 44, died Monday afternoon at Miami Valley Hospital.

The cause and manner of her death have not yet been determined.

>>PHOTOS: Person rescued after falling into trash chute at high-rise apartment building

As News Center 7 previously reported, Griffin fell from the trash chute on the seventh floor and was found by a maintenance man working in the basement who heard her cries for help.

“Yeah, they’re stuck. I’m not moving the machine until somebody gets here and tells me what I can do,” the maintenance man told dispatchers in a newly obtained 911 call.

Griffin was “severely entangled in the trash compactor.”

>>ORIGINAL COVERAGE: Woman in critical condition after falling into trash chute at high-rise apartment building

Body camera video showed the hallway led to the cramped basement boiler room where the rescue happened. Firefighters even called in a surgical team to help care for Griffin as they worked to get her out.

“Guy, let the doctors in there real quick,” one first responder on the scene said in the video.

Crews were able to get Griffin out in roughly 90 minutes and took her to hospital where she later died.

Police are not sure how she got into that trash chute at this time, but do not suspect foul play.

News Center 7 reached out to the management company for the building about the incident.

“It’s a very tragic event. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Kathie Lee Griffin,” Rusty Lykes, Oberer Company Vice President said. “It’s devastating to all of us, It’s just a horrific Incident.”

1 of 9