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The Lake County Sheriff's Office said on Tuesday that two jail inmates died within 12 hours.
(Ryllie Danylko, cleveland.com)
PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- The Lake County Sheriff's Office is investigating after two jail inmates were found dead in their cells within 12 hours.
A 25-year-old woman was found dead Tuesday morning after she overdosed on what investigators think was heroin, according to a statement from Deputy Chief Frank Leonbruno of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
A 25-year-old man died Monday evening of unknown causes.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office is expected to release the inmates' names after their families are notified.
"Any unexpected death of a family member is tragic news, but ever more so during the holiday season," Leonbruno said.
A third inmate, a 30-year-old woman, was also found unconscious from a suspected heroin overdose Tuesday morning, officials said.
Jail officers gave her Naloxone, a drug used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Paramedics took her to the Lake Health TriPoint Medical Center for treatment.
Officials said another woman smuggled drugs into the jail after she was released to see her doctor. The woman hid the drugs in a body cavity and then gave them to the two women.
The inmates who used the drugs had been in jail for about two months. They likely overdosed because their bodies had a lower tolerance for the dose they were once accustomed to using, officials said.
Leonbruno said that officers are prohibited from conducting body cavity searches on inmates unless they have probable cause. Officers performed a regular search on the woman suspected of smuggling the drugs when she returned from her furlough.
Detectives think the women used the drugs sometime before lock-down at 11 p.m. Tuesday.
Officers check the inmates every 30 minutes from 11 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.
Neither of the women used the intercom systems in their cells to call for help, Leonbruno said.
It remains unclear how the 25-year-old man died, Leonbruno said. Investigators do not suspect foul play.
A corrections officer found him unresponsive on the floor of his cell during an observation check. Jail officers performed CPR until paramedics arrived.
Emergency crews took him to the Lake Health TriPoint Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office will perform autopsies.