The death of two students in a Riverpark Towers apartment earlier this month was likely the result of drug overdose, according to preliminary autopsy results.
Early test results from the Montgomery County Coroner's Office reveal that Ohio University senior Kelly Armbruster, 22, and first-year Hocking College student Christopher Theil, 22, did not drown, according to an Athens Police Department news release.
Theil's mother, visiting Athens for Moms Weekend, awoke early May 3 to find the two apparently dead in the bathtub.
Final toxicology results will probably be available in about two weeks, said Montgomery County Coroner's Office Director Ken Betz.
Until the final autopsy report is done
we won't know (what kind of drug was used) said Athens Police Chief Richard Mayer.
Of about 1,400 autopsies performed by the Montgomery County Coroner's Office each year, about 75 percent of the deaths result from drug overdoses, Betz said.
The most common drugs found in a drug overdose are OxyContin, heroin, methadone, Vicodin and cocaine, he said. A drug overdose can stop a person's heart and lungs, leading to death.
Betz, who could not speak specifically about this case, said his office conducts tests and sends the results to the Athens County Coroner's Office, which determines the cause of death.
There was no sign of significant trauma to either body, according to the release.
Signs of trauma include bruises and marks, Betz said.
Drowning can be eliminated as a cause of death by checking for water in the lungs, stomach or sinus cavity, he said.
An examination is an elimination of the obvious he said.
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