Sleepwalk may have led to woman's death

Authorities in Montgomery County are investigating the possibility that Catherine Kelly, the Conshohocken woman found dead in the Schuylkill on Wednesday morning, got there by sleepwalking, her priest, family, and the county coroner confirmed late Thursday.

Kelly, 72, died from drowning, Coroner Walter I. Hofman ruled Thursday. He termed the ruling provisional until Whitemarsh Township police complete their investigation. Hofman and family members said Kelly had narcolepsy, which causes excessive sleepiness and daytime sleep attacks.

A devout Catholic, Kelly failed to appear for morning Mass on Wednesday at St. Matthew the Evangelist Church on Fayette Street, her pastor said.

Her family reported her missing. Hours later, boaters reported a woman's body floating in the river, and rescue workers quickly recovered it, police said. Authorities made the match with the help of family.

The Rev. Tom Heron, parochial administrator of St. Matthew Parish, said, and police confirmed, that Kelly's car was parked outside her home off Spring Mill Avenue, a half-mile from where she was found in the river at Washington and Cherry Streets.

Her family found the front door of her home partly open, with her pocketbook and keys inside, Heron said.

"That is highly unusual," he said. "She always locked her door and took her pocketbook with her."

More telling, said Kelly's niece Trish Chabaud, was that Kelly left her glasses behind. "She couldn't see without them," said Chabaud, of Upper Merion.

Heron said Kelly had told family members she had not been feeling well in recent months. They urged her to go back to her physician to adjust the dosage of a medication she was taking, he said.

Chabaud confirmed that, saying the medicine had made Kelly appear "disoriented, and more sober," to her relatives. Chabaud would not name the medication or the condition it was intended to treat.

How Kelly got into the water is unclear, but Heron said she could not swim.

Police Lt. Christopher Ward would not discuss the details of the investigation Thursday.

Chabaud said police had told her they hoped to examine surveillance video from a business near the river. Such material might shed light on whether Kelly seemed confused or sleepy as she neared the river, Chabaud said.

Kelly, five feet tall with whitish gray hair, was a steadfast member of St. Matthew's, Heron said. If he needed someone to clean the church or volunteer for a committee, she was there.

In addition, Kelly, called "Kitty" by her friends, took Holy Communion to the sick and shut-in at their homes as a private ministry.

"She was a devoted, gentle, generous woman of faith," Heron said.

Kelly never married, but doted on her many nieces and nephews.

"We were her children," Chabaud said.

Kelly graduated from parochial school and high school in Conshohocken. She was a longtime U.S. Postal Service worker, first in Conshohocken, and later in King of Prussia and Devon.

She retired two years ago, her niece said. Kelly has a younger brother who lives in Boston, and a sister, Mary Duncan, also from Conshohocken. Her older brother, Larry, died of cancer two years ago, Heron said.

Chabaud said she and her five siblings, as well as their mother, were struggling to come to terms with their loss.

"We're all pretty devastated," she said.