Blendon Township police have opened a homicide investigation after officers responding to a reported overdose at a township home found a second person dead inside, in an advanced state of decomposition, according to the Blendon Township Police Department.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that officers responded at around 8 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4, to the 2600 block of Claridon Road, between Cleveland Avenue and Sharon Avenue, on a report of a suspected overdose. As officers were rendering aid to the overdose victim, they found a body in the same room, the police department said in a Facebook post reported by The Columbus Dispatch.
ABC 6 (WSYX) also reported the discovery, saying Blendon Township police investigating a suspected overdose made a second discovery inside the home on Wednesday night: the body of a person in an advanced state of decomposition.
The body was in an “advanced state of decomposition,” and the death is being treated as a homicide, police said, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Blendon Township detectives and the Franklin County Coroner’s Office are investigating the death.
The coroner’s office is working to identify the victim and notify family before releasing any identifying information, police said, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Police have not released the victim’s name, age or sex, and they have not said how long the person may have been dead.
Police did not identify the person who was the subject of the suspected-overdose call, and they did not say whether that person is being treated as a suspect in connection with the homicide investigation, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
What happens next is the coroner’s identification work and the detectives’ investigation into how the person died and who was responsible. Anyone with information regarding the incident is urged to contact Blendon Township police at 614-882-8500, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
NewsForce247 will update this story as Blendon Township police and the Franklin County Coroner’s Office release additional information, including the victim’s identity once it is confirmed by officials.
Photo: Sixflashphoto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons — the Blendon Township Police Department.