World's Oldest Person Dies at 115 in Los Angeles

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Gertrude Baines, the world's oldest person at 115 years of age, died Friday in a Los Angeles hospital, the Associated Press reported.

Her physician, Dr. Charles Witt, said Baines probably died of a heart attack but an autopsy will be conducted to confirm the cause of death.

Baines was born in Shellman, Ga., in 1894 and received a letter from President Obama when she turned 115 on April 6, the wire service said. She held the title of world's oldest person after 115-year-old Maria de Jesus of Portugal died in January.

The newest oldest person is now 114-year-old Kama Chinen, of Japan, according to Dr. L. Stephen Coles of the Gerontology Research Group at UCLA Medical Center, which assesses claims of extreme old age.