A Pennsylvania couple died of apparent heroin overdoses, and police also found their starved infant sometime later.
Nineteen-year-old James Grant, of Johnstown, found the bodies of 27-year-old Jason Chambers, 19-year-old Chelsea Cardaro and 5-month-old Summer Chambers in their home on Dec. 22. The Cambria County coroner says the couple died about a week earlier and their daughter likely starved for three to four days before she was found, AP reported.
Officials believe they overdosed “almost simultaneously” on heroin in Johnstown, Independent Journal Review reported.
The mother was found on the second-floor bathroom, while the father was found in the first floor of the living room, police said.
Cardaro posted her last Facebook update on Dec. 14, which read: “The one and only love of my life” It included a picture of Chambers.
According to Cambria County District Attorney Kelly Callihan, the situation was exacerbated because both died at the same time.
“Had they not died within minutes of each other, we believe one would have called 911 for help for the other. The pathologists said a child can live a couple of days without food or milk. She was only 5 months old, so she was on her back ... she had no way to move from that bassinet,” she told People magazine.
“It’s so sad and really illustrates just how bad the heroin epidemic is, not only here but across the country,” Callihan added.
“Neighbors didn’t think it was out of the ordinary that they didn’t see them around, because they were traveling to New York for Christmas,” Callihan continued. “Someone called one of their friends, who opened a window and climbed inside.”
Grant, who found the couple, was also charged with stealing Chambers’ pistol, then sold it to a convicted sex offender who can’t legally own a gun.
Detectives say Grant rummaged through the victims’ home and took the gun before reporting their deaths, AP reported in mid-January.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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