The Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday reported two drug overdoses earlier this month.
Eighteen-year-old Chance Randall Davidson, of Dolores, was pronounced dead at the scene on Tuesday, Aug. 16 after emergency medical personnel and sheriff’s deputies responded to his family’s home in the block of 15300 Colorado Highway 145, according to a sheriff’s office press release from Lt. Vernon Knuckles.
Emergency responders went to the home after Davidson’s parents, Randall and Laurel Davidson, reported that they had found him in their guesthouse and that he was unresponsive. The incident was initially reported as a possible stabbing, but preliminary investigations found no evidence of one, according to Montezuma County Sheriff Steven Nowlin.
Detectives located drug paraphernalia at the home, and initial field tests on the paraphernalia revealed a presumptive positive for the presence of heroin and opioids.
An autopsy conducted Aug. 19 showed no signs of struggle, disturbance to the body, injury or foul play to the deceased, but detectives are still waiting for results of a toxicology screen.
“If the toxicology report comes back as lethal amounts of prescription or non-prescription drugs, this will be the sixth nonsuicidal overdose for the year,” Montezuma County Coroner George Deavers said.
No suicides have been attributed to drug overdoses this year, Deavers said.
Sheriff’s detectives are still investigating the case as a crime, and Nowlin said results of the toxicology analysis might be available early next week.
The sheriff’s office reported a second overdose near Dolores on Thursday, Aug. 18. Deputy Justin Goodall responded to the location at about 6 a.m., where he found a person who had cut their arm with a razor, according to his report. Goodall observed that the person had ingested some type of narcotic, the report states. A witness at the scene told Goodall that the person had stopped taking medication the doctor had given them.
The person was transported to Southwest Memorial Hospital for treatment. Goodall recovered a needle with a red substance at the scene and a razor blade at the scene, according to the report.