22-Year-Old Black Woman Dies In Car During Buffalo Blizzard

Source: John Normile / Getty

A 22-year-old, Anndel Taylor, died in her car during the brutal Buffalo blizzard over Christmas weekend.

According to CNN, Taylor, who had moved to Buffalo from Charlotte, North Carolina, was driving home from work at a senior center when the incident happened. As more than 50 inches pummeled the entire state, the young medical worker got stranded. She was only six minutes away from her house, according to relatives.

“Her plan was to wait until the police got there,” Taylor’s sister, Tomeshia Brown told the outlet. If authorities weren’t able to arrive, she planned to “get up and walk once her car ran out of gas.”

Before her tragic passing, Brown said Taylor sent a video capturing Buffalo’s deadly blizzard conditions Dec. 23. She told them that the snow kept falling relentlessly. On the morning of Christmas Eve, Taylor’s North Carolina relatives called to check in on her. They grew worried when they went hours without hearing from her. Her last text was sent at 9 a.m. that morning.

“We texted her in the group to ask, ‘Are you OK?’” Brown recalled of the scary experience.

“Maybe two hours later, my sister tracked her phone. She [Taylor] must’ve shared her location with my sister. And it showed that she was still outside.” Taylor’s relatives in North Carolina sent her address to family in Buffalo, hoping that they would be able to locate her. Miraculously they were able to find Taylor’s car, but they didn’t see her inside initially.

“So I put the info on a private Facebook page called Buffalo Blizzard 2022 and asked for help,” Brown said. She posted the address of Taylor’s phone tracker and later that evening, an unidentified man arrived at the scene. “He let us know he checked her pulse and there was no pulse. I really didn’t believe it, Brown said. “It was like a piercing feeling in my stomach, a pain I’ve never felt before.”

Due to the storm, emergency officials were unable to reach Taylor’s vehicle. They waited for more family to arrive and together, were able to pull her body into another vehicle, where she was taken to the hospital.

Brown said authorities have not yet revealed the cause of Taylor’s death.

As the family awaits to find clarity, Brown said she and the family are trying to hold on to the memories that they shared with Taylor. She described the 22-year-old as “a caring and nurturing person.”

“If she could help, she would help you,” Taylor’s mother, Brown Steele, said. “She had a lot of friends here in Charlotte – a lot of people cared about her.”

The family has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help cover funeral costs. Consider donating here.

As previously reported, over the weekend, Buffalo was slammed with more than 50 inches of heavy snow. Thirty-one people died due to the stormy winter blizzard, according to CNN’s latest update.

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