A doctor says it's “plausible” that the three Chiefs fans who tragically died in a friend's backyard on a freezing Kansas City night may have been exposed to some kind of drug that played a role in their bizarre deaths. ” he said.
“It's one thing for a person to tragically fall into a snowdrift after leaving a bar. But it's quite another for three people to end up dead sitting in someone's backyard after a party.” That's the story,” Dr. Caleb Alexander, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, told the Post.
“I think the fact that there are three people really adds to the curiosity and tragedy of this case and raises the possibility that more than a moderate amount of alcohol was involved here,” he added.
In the mysterious incident, Clayton McGeeney, 36, David Harrington, 37, and Ricky Johnson, 38, were found frozen to death in the backyard of their friend Jordan Willis. They were discovered on January 9th — two days after the group was said to have departed. I watched the Kansas City Chiefs game on January 7th.
Police discovered the body after McGeeney's fiancée did not return home that Sunday, and Willis did not respond to questioning or to those who came to his home.
When police arrived, Willis reportedly answered with a glass of wine and claimed he had no idea his friend was dead in his backyard.
Willis' lawyer, John Picerno, said his client spent two days wearing noise-canceling headphones near a noisy fan as his friend's family desperately tried to contact him and locate him. He said he was sleeping.
Willis has been cooperating with police from the moment his involvement began, and police say he is not facing any charges and there is nothing suspicious about the death or any suspicion of criminal activity.
Dr. Alexander, who specializes in drug use and safety, said the situation appeared to be the result of a dangerous combination of opioid-like drugs and alcohol, and that they may have been exposed “intentionally or unintentionally.” He said that there is.
“It certainly could be consistent with opioids, benzodiazepines, antihistamines, barbiturates, muscle relaxants,” he said, noting he could only speculate until the toxicology report came back.
“There are dozens of potential prescription drugs that, when combined with alcohol, can cause levels of sedation that ultimately lead to freezing to death,” Alexander said, adding that common drugs such as Xanax and Ativan, Valium , carisoprodol, etc. were cited as possible culprits.
“All of these drugs, including alcohol, can act synergistically with many prescription drugs to increase their potency and cause sedation and other side effects,” he added.
“One of the many tragedies of the opioid epidemic is that people are overdosing too often, and that's much easier to do not only when alone, but in groups,” Alexander told the musician just last week. Jose Vázquez, who died from influenza, spoke out. He overdosed on fentanyl at his home in Los Angeles with his wife and friend.
Illegal opioids such as fentanyl may also be an issue in the Kansas City case.
“It is possible that the three people rapidly lost consciousness and were ultimately killed by the weather,” the doctor said, calling it a “very plausible scenario”.
But he also said, “They didn't necessarily have to die from drugs…they could have just frozen to death.”
Temperatures on January 7th and 8th were in the 30s. Alexander said if the three people were outside in this weather and did not move for any length of time, they would be at serious risk of death.
“Just sitting there, you don't generate any body heat…It's so cold. Deadly cold, let's put it that way,” he said.
Investigators said they were “100%” investigating the death as a homicide, even though the family of one of the deceased accused Willis of being an HIV scientist who had worked in a lab. He said no. professional profile — poisoned his friends and left them to die.
Willis' lawyer called the claims “ridiculous” and noted there was never any allegation of animosity between the friends.
Asked if drugs could have played a role in the death, the attorney told the Post on Tuesday, “Everything is a possibility.”
Kansas City police are awaiting the results of the autopsy and toxicology report, which Dr. Alexander said will be key to solving the mystery.
“Toxicology here is mission critical,” he said.
