NEW YORK (AP) - The daughter-in-law of New York City’s public advocate was found dead in a police holding cell in Phoenix.

Forty-5-year-old Carol Anne Gotbaum of New York was arrested yesterday after a conflict at Phoenix Sky Harbor with gate crews who refused to allow her to board a plane.

US Airways says the plane was already preparing to depart. Gotbaum was rebooked on the next flight, but an airline spokeswoman says the woman became extremely irate and started running up and down the gate area.

Officers handcuffed her and took her to a holding room, where police say she kept screaming.

Police say officers checked on her when she stopped screaming and found her unresponsive.

Authorities are investigating if Gotbaum choked herself while trying to get free from the handcuffs.

Police say neither a Taser stun gun nor pepper spray was used on the woman.

The woman’s mother-in-law and New York City’s public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum, says the family is extraordinarily upset and that her daughter-in-law had three young children.

KOLD