CROOKSTON, Minn. - A husband and wife were found dead in their home just east of Crookston in northwest Minnesota from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning that also sickened two of their three daughters.
Natalie Ostgaard, 51, and Kent Ostgaard, 49, were found dead in their home after their youngest daughter, Gabi, 17, called 911 at 7:49 a.m., Monday, to report apparent carbon monoxide poisoning, said Polk County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jim Tadman.
Their daughter Aryanna Ostgaard, 22, was found in the house unresponsive but breathing. She was taken first to Riverview Health in Crookston, then Altru Hospital in Grand Forks in critical condition before being airlifted to the Methodist Hospital campus of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., Tadman said.
Gabi Ostgaard was treated at Riverview and released and was with relatives in Crookston.
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The Ostgaards’ middle daughter, Cyrina, was at college at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
The bodies of Natalie and Kent Ostgaard were taken to the University of North Dakota’s forensic pathology facility which conducts official autopsies.
There were no indications of anything suspicious or that would contradict the apparent initial theory that it was carbon monoxide poisoning, Tadman said.
The family had reached out to friends seeking space heaters and talked of using their two fireplaces, said Tadman and others who said they had seen messages on Natalie’s Facebook page.
