Temperatures had plunged to nearly twenty below in Michigan and heavy snow was falling on Jan. 14 when Olivia Morgan felt something was wrong. Her daughter, Aubrie, 18, wasn’t answering her messages.
Morgan had helped raise Aubrie since she was in kindergarten, becoming what Aubrie lovingly called her “bonus mom.” Over the years, she had come to the know the routines of Aubrie’s daily life: her days as a cosmetology student, her part-time shifts waiting tables and her habit of always checking in.
Concerned, Morgan began calling around. She eventually reached the manager of the restaurant where Aubrie worked as a server and asked if someone could check the nearby parking area where her daughter’s phone location was showing.
Moments later, the manager called back saying she had found Aubrie sleeping in her car. Morgan exhaled, her panic easing.
“I was like, ‘Oh thank God!” Morgan, 31, tells TODAY.com.
But when the manager knocked on the window and Aubrie didn’t respond, she opened the door and realized something was terribly wrong — Aubrie was cold and not breathing. She called 911.
By the time Morgan and her husband, Chad, fought through snow-covered roads to reach the hospital, Aubrie had been pronounced dead. Doctors initially suspected a brain aneurysm.
Later, a police officer called with a different explanation: carbon monoxide had filled Aubrie’s 2010 sedan while she sat inside with the heat turned up. Morgan says investigators discovered a small crack in the car’s engine manifold, allowing exhaust gases containing carbon monoxide to leak into the vehicle.
Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, making it extremely difficult to detect without special equipment. Even a small leak in a vehicle’s exhaust system can allow the gas to build up inside the car, putting anyone inside at serious risk.
Before she lost consciousness, Morgan says Aubrie had tried to call her cosmetology school. She left a voicemail saying she wouldn’t be coming in that day, but the message abruptly cut off.
Authorities believe she may have already been feeling the early effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. The gas deprives the body of oxygen, and symptoms often begin with headache, dizziness, nausea and confusion. As exposure continues, people can become weak, drowsy and disoriented before eventually losing consciousness.
One thought continues to haunt Morgan: how many people may have walked past Aubrie’s car that day, assuming she was simply resting.
She says she hopes people will check on others— even if it feels awkward or means waking someone up who’s just napping.
“It’s better to knock and have someone snap at you,” she says, “than to walk away when someone could be having a medical emergency. “
In the aftermath of her daughter’s death, Morgan struggled to process what had happened.
“I kept thinking, ‘How does an 18-year-old die like this?'" she says. That night, she prayed for reassurance. “I just asked her, if you made it to heaven, you have to let me know,” Morgan recalls.
Less than 24 hours later, a message appeared on Morgan’s phone that she says stopped her in her tracks.
Friends had arranged to send food to the family through DoorDash. When Morgan checked the delivery notification, she noticed the name listed for the driver.
“I just froze,” she says. “I knew instantly that was her.”
Wanting to make sure she was seeing it correctly, Morgan contacted the restaurant that prepared the order. Staff there told her the driver’s name was Anthony and even sent a screenshot showing his name in their system. But on Morgan’s phone, the delivery still appeared under a different name.
“I felt like she was telling me, ‘You can sleep now, Mom. I’m okay,’” Morgan tells TODAY.
For Morgan, the moment reinforced something she had already begun telling herself since Aubrie’s death.
“All I kept hearing was, ‘Turn my pain into power,’” she says. Aubrie, she adds, would have wanted that. Aubrie was known for her kindness and empathy. In high school, she spent time helping special-needs students in their classrooms and was quick to forgive others.
Now Morgan hopes to honor her daughter by turning her grief into action.
She plans to start a nonprofit in Aubrie’s name focused on raising awareness about the dangers of carbon monoxide exposure in vehicles and pushing for stronger safety measures to prevent similar tragedies.
Experts say one simple precaution for drivers of older vehicles is using a portable carbon monoxide detector.
“These carbon monoxide detectors we’ve tested have shown they’re effective,” says Jake Fisher, senior director of auto testing at Consumer Reports.
Many portable detectors cost about $40 and can attach to a keychain, Fisher says, a small investment that could provide an early warning if carbon monoxide begins building inside a vehicle.
“It’s not just about some ‘60s muscle car you might have,” Fisher notes. “If you have a car that’s 15 or 20 years old — which isn’t uncommon — a $40 investment could potentially safe your life.”
“If sharing her story saves even one life,” Morgan says, “then Aubrie is still helping people.”
