Two women found dead inside a Bucktown apartment Friday afternoon may have died after ingesting street drugs contaminated with fentanyl or another highly potent substance, although their official causes of death remain undetermined pending additional testing.
Autopsies performed Saturday on Shirley Colon, 36, and Taina Rios, 40, were inconclusive, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, which is awaiting toxicology and other laboratory results before determining how the women died.
Chicago police officers responded to a third-floor apartment in the 2300 block of North Leavitt Street around 3 p.m. Friday, where they found both women dead, according to a police report. First responders discovered suspected narcotics on a counter near the women, along with two straws that appeared to have been used to ingest the drugs, the report said.
A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation said detectives believe the women may have consumed street drugs laced with fentanyl or another powerful synthetic opioid. Investigators are awaiting toxicology results to confirm whether contaminated drugs played a role in the deaths.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times more potent than heroin, has become a leading driver of overdose deaths in the United States. While it was once most commonly found mixed into heroin, it is now frequently detected in cocaine, counterfeit prescription pills, methamphetamine, and other illicit drugs, often without users’ knowledge.
In recent years, authorities have also encountered even more potent synthetic opioids, including nitazenes, which can be several times stronger than fentanyl. Public health officials warn that these substances are increasingly appearing in the illicit drug supply, significantly increasing the risk of fatal overdoses.
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