Two months after the death of Alicia Witt's parents, new details have emerged about their untimely passing.
Reports have confirmed that Robert Witt and Diane Witt died from the cold in their Massachusetts home. Specifically, the cause of death for both Robert, 87, and Diane, 75, was due to "probable cardiac dysrhythmia" stemming from exposure to the cold, according to death certificates obtained by The Telegram & Gazette. Additionally, Robert also had a "history of coronary artery disease, hypertension and multiple myeloma."
According to multiple reports, Alicia's parents were found deceased at their Worcester home on Dec. 20. "I reached out to a cousin who lives close to my parents to check on them," Alicia shared in a statement to E! News at the time. "Sadly, the outcome was unimaginable. I ask for some privacy at this time to grieve and to wrap my head around this turn of events, and this surreal loss."
Following the tragic discovery, a neighbor told The Telegram & Gazette that the couple rarely stepped out of their home, adding that other neighbors had offered to help the pair as their home fell into disrepair. But according to the neighbor, they politely declined.
Last month, Alicia—who is known for her roles in shows including Orange Is the New Black and The Walking Dead—paid tribute to her late parents, while addressing "misconceptions" surrounding her family.
"This is very delicate for me to write because i'm wanting to honor their privacy, which they held so tightly," she shared in a Jan. 25 Facebook post. "There's an awful irony in the fact that, because of the very lengths they went to in order to protect their privacy in life—that privacy has been stripped away in death."
According to Alicia, her parents were "fiercely stubborn" and private people who often refused her help with repairs on their home. As a result, the actress shared that was unable to step inside "for well over a decade" and "every time I offered to have something repaired for them, they refused to allow workers into their house."
Added Alicia, "I begged, cried, tried to reason with them, tried to convince them to let me help them move—but every time, they became furious with me, telling me I had no right to tell them how to live their lives and that they had it all under control," she explained. "It was not for a lack of trying on my part, or the part of other people who loved them."
Noting that Robert and Diane "were not penniless," Alicia explained that her parents "made choices" that she didn't agree with and she eventually stopped "short of petitioning the court system for taking control of two otherwise very sharp, very independent, very capable adults."
"Our last words to each other were ‘I love you,'" Alicia concluded her tribute. "That part was simple; never in doubt. They loved me so. I loved them so."