Police: Two dead amid spate of drug overdoses in LaPorte County

The most recent fatal overdose was discovered Saturday morning on Montrose Street in LaPorte, according to the release. It resulted in the death of a 19-year-old man, LaPorte County Police Capt. Mike Kellems said.

At approximately 6 p.m. Friday, a 58-year-old woman was found unresponsive after an apparent heroin overdose on the 7800 West block of U.S. 6 in LaPorte County, according to a news release. She was transported to Porter Regional Hospital in critical condition and died overnight, Kellems said.

"With this frequency of overdoses, we feel it would be prudent to let the public know so that steps can be taken to stop any further potential loss of life or harm," LaPorte County Sheriff John Boyd stated in the release.

Shortly following Saturday morning's fatal overdose, emergency responders were sent to the 900 block of Jackson Street for a reported overdose, the release stated. The woman was revived with the overdose-reversal drug Narcan and transported to LaPorte Hospital.

At approximately 2 p.m. Friday, a 24-year-old man and 18-year-old woman were found suffering what was believed to be heroin overdoses on the 100 block of I Street in LaPorte, according to a LaPorte County Sheriff's release from Friday night.

On Thursday, another overdose case was discovered near the Union Mills area, according to the release.

"We typically hold the cards close on narcotics investigations; however, this rate of cases is cause (for) alarm," Drug Task Force Supervisor Sgt. Andy Hynek said in the release.

Boyd encouraged anyone who has a loved one struggling with heroin addiction to take every available step to protect them from harm.

"We've seen spikes in overdose cases around Indiana and the rest of the United States, and it appears as though we are suffering the same fate as many other communities," Boyd said in the release. "We encourage anyone that knows of a person struggling with a heroin addiction to watch over them closely, seek whatever assistance is available to you and monitor them every minute of the day."