Coroner: Deaths involved fentanyl

Coroner Earl Piper says fentanyl was the cause of two fatal overdoses that happened less than a week apart in June. Piper received the results of toxicology tests this month.

The first was reported on June 18 on West Gould Street after a 26-year-old Brown County man was found dead in bed by his grandparents at their home. Evidence found at the scene and on the victim’s body indicated that drugs were involved.

Less than a week later, a 30-year-old man was found dead in his bedroom. At that time Piper said an overdose was suspected to be the cause of death, due to paraphernalia and narcotics found in the room.

Both men had a history of drug use.

These were the second and third fatal overdoses to occur in Brown County this year.

The Brown County Democrat does not normally name people who die from overdoses.

Baby flown out after 911 call about drowning

UNIONVILLE — A 9-month-old baby was flown to Riley Hospital for Children on July 13 after going under water in the bathtub at his home.

Det. Brian Shrader with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department said on July 14 that the child was in critical condition. The child was taken by ambulance from his Unionville-area home to Indiana University Health Bloomington Hospital and was flown out from there, Shrader said.

The baby was at home with his mother when the accident happened. Shrader said that everything at the scene indicated it was an “accidental situation.” The baby was revived at the scene after losing consciousness and was breathing on his own before he was transferred to the ambulance.

Shrader estimated the baby was in the bathtub water for about a minute. The mother had stepped out of the room and when she came back he was under water, Shrader said.

Drivers rescued after heavy weekend rains

HELMSBURG — Back-to-back weekends filled with heavy rain resulted in multiple people being rescued from their cars in flood water throughout the county.

Heavy rain occurred the weekends of July 9 and July 16.

A 43-year-old Brown County woman was rescued early July 11 after she drove her car through high water on State Road 45.

Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Stargell responded to the rescue at the intersection of State Road 45 and Helmsburg School Road along with Deputy Scott Bowling and volunteers from the Jackson Township Volunteer Fire Department just before 6 a.m.

The county had received a “significant amount of rainfall” in the early morning hours, causing flash flooding, Stargell’s report said.

The water was knee high and the driver was sitting on top of her vehicle because water had risen as high as the car’s seats inside. She was taken to safety by the firefighters.

The driver told police she was driving east on 45 when she came across the high water and it was too late to avoid it, the report said. The vehicle was 100 feet into the water.

The vehicle was towed; the driver was not injured.

On July 16 around 7 p.m., a car had to be towed from flood waters at the intersection of Railroad and Stinson roads after it stalled.

About two hours later, another car was reported stuck in flood water at State Road 45 and Helmsburg Road. Barricades were requested.

Around the same time, a tree reportedly slid down on Green Valley Road and trapped a car between another tree that had fallen behind it. But a couple of men passing by helped to move the large tree and officers were disregarded, according to dispatch notes.

At 11:30 p.m., another car was reported trapped by water on Green Valley Road. That driver was taken to the Green Valley Motor Lodge by first responders.

The next day, July 17, two people were reported on top of their vehicle waving a white flag on Green Valley Road. A conservation officer and volunteer firefighters with Nashville (Brown County) Volunteer Fire Department rescued the two from the vehicle, which had water up to its doors. They were taken to the EMS base.

At 7:20 p.m., a hiker at Yellowwood State Forest reported that water was over Jackson Creek and he could not get around it. He was waist deep in the water trying to cross it to get to a deputy who helped him get to the park.