News brief: Winlock man’s traffic death related to heart issue

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – An autopsy conducted yesterday concluded the 69-year-old Winlock man who died after a two-vehicle accident in Evaline on Wednesday afternoon died from a previously undetected heart condition.

Larry Pudelko was traveling alone on Highway 603 near Schoolhouse Road when his Chevrolet Malibu crossed the centerline and struck an oncoming pickup truck, according to authorities.

Pudelko died en route to the hospital. A Lake Forest Park couple in the other vehicle suffered injuries that were not described as life threatening.

Lewis County Chief Deputy Coroner, Dawn Harris said yesterday Pudelko suffered a “dissecting aortic aneurysm”. It’s basically an undetected weakness in the vessel wall that can rupture at any time causing virtually instantaneous death, she said.

The manner of death will be labeled as natural as opposed to accidental, according to Harris.

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