Kaitlyn Harigan

BUTLER TWP — Foul play is not suspected in the death of a 22-year-old Saxonburg woman whose body was found Thursday morning on a wooded hillside along East Jefferson Street, near the township-city border, investigators said.

However, an autopsy Thursday night was unable to pinpoint the precise cause of Kaitlyn Harigan’s death.

Her decomposed body was found shortly after 11:30 a.m. not far from Butler Memorial Hospital, where she had gone May 5 for a diabetic-related issue, authorities said.

Her father had driven her to the hospital because of her high blood sugar level.

However, while in the hospital parking lot, she abruptly left, claiming nothing was wrong, according to a Butler Township police statement.

That was the last time she was reportedly seen alive, her family said.

“Harigan was reported to be a severe insulin dependent diabetic,” a Butler Township police report said, “and (she) reportedly had a substantial history of becoming disoriented during diabetic emergencies.”

While a cause of death is pending, police believe her medical history and health problems are to blame for her demise.

“Although the investigation is ongoing,” the report said, “it is believed that Harigan succumbed to a diabetic emergency after walking away and the diabetic emergency was related to (her) death.”

Her brother, Daniel Harigan, told the Eagle this morning that his sister had Type 1 juvenile diabetes, and she struggled with it during the past three years.

“When her sugar gets really high, she tends to hallucinate,” he said. She also would have seizures, he said.

Butler County probation officers found Harigan’s body while searching the steep and densely wooded area in a rocky ravine on the south side of East Jefferson Street between the 800 and 900 blocks.

Because of some past brushes with the law, the probation office was familiar with her.

Officers, out of concern for her and her family, voluntarily organized the search that eventually led to the discovery of her body.

Authorities found no identification on the body. A tattoo of a lily on her body helped with the initial identification, investigators said.

County Deputy Coroner Larry Barr pronounced Harigan dead at 1 p.m. He said there were no signs of suspicious injuries on her body.

He acknowledged that diabetes likely will prove to be a factor in her death.

The ultimate cause, however, will not be determined until toxicology, histology and other lab tests come back in two to four weeks.

Harigan’s mother, Dianne Harigan, said she tried to file a missing persons report at 3 a.m. May 7 with the state police, but was told they could not file a report because her daughter was an adult.

She said a police officer told her they searched the area, but did not see Harigan.