The owner of a Bedford County general store died Wednesday, hours after she suffered a heart attack in the wake of a shoplifting incident, District Attorney Bill Higgins said.

Linda Fluke, who owned Linda’s Little General in Hopewell, died early Wednesday morning, Higgins said in a news release.

Fluke, 56, suffered a heart attack Tuesday evening after an employee contacted her to deal with an alleged shoplifter at the store. She died at UPMC Altoona.

“It is quite likely that the stress of the shoplifting incident caused her to go into cardiac arrest,” Higgins said.

The alleged shoplifter, 26-year-old Trista Dawn Foor of Hopewell, faces a felony retail theft charge and a misdemeanor charge of receiving stolen property.

Higgins said she placed two bags of candy in her purse before a clerk confronted her and contacted Fluke.

Higgins said he had received several questions regarding possible homicide charges against Foor, since her alleged theft might have led indirectly to Fluke’s death. In a news release, however, Higgins said murder and manslaughter charges weren’t legally possible.

“Trista Dawn Foor will be held fully accountable for all criminal conduct she has engaged in, and the fact that her criminal behavior ultimately led to the death of Linda Fluke will not be overlooked,” he said.

Blair County Coroner Patty Ross said her office initially investigated Fluke’s death as a possible homicide after being told she was the victim of a robbery. The alleged crime would not be legally considered a robbery, however, as Foor isn’t accused of using threats or violence.

Fluke suffered the heart attack when Foor was no longer on the premises, Ross said.

“She had maybe worked herself up a little bit,” she said.

Fluke’s store – instantly recognizable by its logo, a Civil War officer wielding a pizza and a sandwich – remained open Thursday, according to comments posted online by a family member.

“This beauty right here is being tremendously missed and grieved by many, and we are all trying to wrap our head around it and struggling just the same as many of our loyal customers,” a post on the store’s Facebook page read, accompanied by a photo of Fluke’s smiling face. “But please remember, the people behind the counter working are on the verge of losing it, too, and in a very hard place of grieving, as well.”

Foor remains in Bedford County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail and faces a June 8 preliminary hearing, according to online court documents.

Mirror Staff Writer Ryan Brown is at 946-7457.