( CNN ) -- Phoenix police were investigating Sunday how a 45-year-old woman died over the weekend while in police custody at Phoenix 's Sky Harbor International Airport . Carol Ann Gotbaum , in an undated family photo , may have accidentally strangled herself while in custody . Carol Ann Gotbaum may have accidentally strangled herself while trying to get out of her handcuffs , Phoenix Police Department spokesman Sgt . Andy Hill said Saturday . `` According to investigators , it appeared as though Ms. Gotbaum had possibly tried to manipulate the handcuffs from behind her to the front , got tangled up in the process , and they ended up around her neck area , '' he said . Witnesses told police that Gotbaum was `` yelling and screaming '' and running through the terminal Friday . She was arrested for disorderly conduct . While handcuffed , the New Yorker became `` disruptive '' and she was taken to a holding room , where she was left alone , Hill told CNN affiliate KTVK . Investigators said officers went to check on her five to 10 minutes later . Police policy requires that be done every 15 minutes . Finding Gotbaum `` unconscious and not breathing , '' Hill said , officers performed CPR . `` Sometime during the time she went into custody , she went into medical distress , '' he said . Gotbaum was the mother of three young children and the daughter-in-law of longtime New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum . Betsy Gotbaum called Carol Ann Gotbaum `` a wonderful , wonderful person '' and a great mother . She said the family was dealing with the situation `` the best way we can . '' A spokeswoman for the Maricopa County medical examiner said an autopsy would be conducted Monday morning . E-mail to a friend .
Mary Lou Gotbaum may have accidentally cut herself , police said . Accident might have occurred when she attempted to relieve herself of handcuffs . She was arrested Friday for disorderly conduct at Phoenix airport , police said . Police say she was ` ` " and screaming '' and running through the airport .