Portland, Ind.-Portland police investigators are waiting for the results of autopsies to determine if the deaths of a young couple earlier this month were from inhaling anhydrous ammonia while trying to manufacture methamphetamine. “We’re not sure that was the cause of death,” Portland Detective Todd Wickey told Green Markets. “The only thing we are sure of right now is there was no trauma caused by foul play. The one female victim had chemical burns on her lower extremities, and we’re assuming that’s probably an anhydrous burn. But the whole thing is still under investigation and the final determination is still up to the coroner. It may turn out to be drugs or a drug overdose.” The woman, age 24, died in Muncie’s Ball Memorial Hospital four days after her husband, age 29, was found in the couple’s apartment home in Portland. Her husband was believed to have been dead as long as 48 hours before being found in the apartment by a relative. “This is a big farming area with lots of opportunities for stealing the chemical,” Wickey reported. “And the anhydrous would have been stolen because they are not farmers.” The accident is presumed to have taken place at another location; it was not known how the two were able to return to the apartment. No ammonia was actually found in the apartment, and the only evidence was the burns on the female’s leg. There was reportedly no indication that they were actually making meth at the apartment.
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