LIMA — Four people dead in one week with the telltale signs of an overdose could mean a deadly batch of heroin possibly laced with something to increase its potency has made it to the community.
Police are waiting on toxicology results from the autopsies of four people, which typically takes six to eight weeks, to say if the deaths are related.
The most recent happened Saturday when 32-year-old Ashley Fuller was found dead inside an apartment at 2993 Elijah Parkway. A relative found her body, Lima Police Detc. Steve Stechschulte said.
On Friday, police were called to the Argonne Residence Inn at 201 N. Elizabeth St., in downtown Lima over the deaths of a man and woman found inside a room. Police have not been able to locate and notify their family members who are from out of town, so they are not releasing the names until the notifications have been made, Stechschulte said.
The fourth suspected overdose was March 27. The body of 49-year-old Marlon Ford, of Lafayette, was found in a house in the 200 block of East Kildare Avenue, Stechschulte said.
The bodies of the four possible overdose victims were sent to the Lucas County Coroner’s Office for autopsies.
The local hospitals have not seen an uptick in the number of patients overdosing with heroin, hospital officials said.
Allen County Sheriff’s Sgt. Andre McConnahea said his office has only handled two overdose complaints in the past week and neither died.
Police also are investigating the death of Shae Dickerson, 23, of Findlay, whose body was found in an alley off the 700 block of Franklin Street on Friday. Police said it appears her body was dumped in the alley after she died elsewhere.
Stechschulte would not discuss whether there were signs of foul play or whether her death could have been an overdose. He said he has not received the preliminary autopsy report.
“We are still looking into it as a homicide,” he said.
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