Three homeless deaths confirmed by police
updated: Jan 25, 2010, 1:39 PM

Source: SBPD

SANTA BARBARA, CA - 1/25/2010 - January 25th, 2010. Three homeless people, two men and a woman, were found dead this weekend, all in unrelated circumstances.
On 1/23 at 7:19 a.m. an officer was flagged down about a person lying down in a driveway off the 300 block of Castillo Street. The officer discovered the body of a 43 year old homeless woman who was known to frequent this area. There were no obvious signs of foul play. As part of the investigation, police contacted residents, business owners, and others who knew the woman. Her name is being withheld pending notification of next-of-kin.

On 1/23 at 9:20 a.m. Police and Fire Rescue responded to the Milpas Street Underpass on a call of an unresponsive male, possibly not breathing. They found the body of a 43-year-old homeless man, accompanied by three other homeless people. There was no trauma or signs of foul play. The group of four had been sheltering under the overpass for several days due to the rain. Reportedly, the decedent had some illegally obtained methadone pills. The night before he died, the decedent shared his methadone pills and they all drank beer. They went to sleep, but in the morning the decedent was found not breathing. His name is being withheld pending notification of next-of-kin.

On 1/24 at 12:20 a.m. two officers were conducting a premise check at the Milpas Street Underpass. They checked on one man who was fine. They checked the other and found him obviously deceased. His companion had discovered him unresponsive at 11:00 p.m., but thought him merely intoxicated due to his alcohol abuse; four times in the past week the decedent had been arrested or cited at this location for alcohol offenses. In his possession was a variety of different pills, not in prescription bottles; possibly not legally obtained. The decedent is believed to be 52-years-old; his name is being withheld pending notification of next-of-kin. Note: the decedent's companion told police that on 1/20, his backpack with 150 prescription methadone pills was stolen from a local homeless shelter. He heard about the earlier death at 9:20 this morning at this very same location. He believed that the man who died in this morning's incident had consumed his stolen methadone pills.

In each of these cases, the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Coroner took custody of the body. The Coroner will conduct toxicological screening and determine the cause of death.

COMMENT 55162	2010-01-26 10:15 AM
Such heart breaking news, these deaths. I'm sure that when it looks like you've got nothing else a six-pack and a couple of pills might be of some comfort or at least numb the pain and chase the chill away. Geez, living (and dying) under the Milpas overpass in that construction zone... just breaks my heart.

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