Woman whose kids were wandering naked found dead of suspected overdose
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A woman whose kids were wandering naked around a South Side neighborhood Thursday afternoon was found dead of a suspected drug overdose, police said.
A neighbor discovered the 36-year-old woman dead about 3:50 p.m. inside a home in the 200 block of East Avondale Avenue. The woman was found slumped over in a closet.
About a half hour before the woman was found, police were called to the street by a school bus driver for a report of two young children running around naked in the neighborhood. Officers responded to the street and drove around the neighborhood but could not find them.
A next-door neighbor who did not want to give her name said the children, who are both toddlers, were running around and she was frightened for them. She managed to get the kids into her house, and another neighbor went to their home to see if she could get some clothes for them.
The door to the children’s home was wide open, and the neighbor went inside and found the woman slumped over. That’s when police were called.
Capt. Brad Blackburn, chief of detectives, said he did not want to release the woman’s name because her family has not yet been identified. The father of the children arrived just as the woman’s body was being removed from the home, and he appeared very upset. He was walked over to an ambulance where the children were being kept. Crying could be heard coming from inside the ambulance.
The home appeared well-kept on the outside, and there were car seats on the front porch and toys and a tricycle on the front lawn. A Spanish-speaking officer who normally works the East Side was sent over to the home in case translation was needed.
The children were in good shape and were dressed when the father arrived. They will be released to him.
Just Tuesday, a man just a couple of streets over on East Auburndale Avenue had overdosed but was revived by the opiate antidote Narcan that a family member had in the house.