Lover died of asphyxiation in boyfriend's chimney

AP/The Bakersfield Californian

LOVER: Jacquelyn Kotarac decomposing body was found in the chimney of his house in California.

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A US coroner says a Central California doctor, whose decomposing body was found in the chimney of her boyfriend's house, died of asphyxiation.

The body of Jacquelyn Kotarac was found on Saturday, three days after she slid feet first down the chimney of the Bakersfield home, police said.

"The pressure being placed on the chest wouldn't allow her lungs to expand and she suffocated," Kern County sheriff-coroner spokesman Ray Pruitt said after an autopsy.

The chimney flue measured only 38 by 18 centimetres at its widest point. Gravity pulled Dr Kotarac down and she suffocated as the walls became narrower.

The coroner's office also ruled the death was accidental. Foul play was not suspected.

Police said Dr Kotarac, a 49-year-old internist, wanted to confront the man with whom she had an "on-again, off-again" relationship.

Her corpse was discovered when a house-sitter noticed an odour coming from the fireplace. People in the home had noticed nothing until then, police said.

Dr Kotarac was reported missing on Thursday when she failed to show up for work, Bakersfield police Segeant Mary DeGeare said.

The night before, she tried to get into the house with a shovel, then climbed a ladder to the roof, removed the chimney cap and slid down, police said.

Meanwhile, the man she sought left unnoticed to avoid a confrontation and slept elsewhere that night, authorities said.

Firefighters spent five hours tearing up the chimney to extract the body that was wedged about half a metre above the top of the interior fireplace opening.

- AP