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Coroner IDs one of two men found dead in El Jebel-area subdivision

An Eagle County deputy sheriff was stationed outside a home at 108 Ermine Ln. in Blue Lake subdivision Friday morning where two people were found dead.
Scott Condon, Aspen Times

Two men were found dead in a home in Blue Lake subdivision in the El Jebel area Friday morning, and while the cause of death has not been released the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office said there is no threat to the community.

Eagle County Coroner Kara Bettis identified one man as Michael Martinez, 26. She said Friday afternoon she couldn’t publicly identify the other person because efforts were still underway to reach family.

Bettis said she couldn’t comment further on the case until after autopsy and toxicology results are available. The autopsies should be complete this weekend, she said.

The Basalt Fire Department was called to 108 Ermine Ln. in Blue Lake at 5:45 a.m. for a call of a person finding a roommate “stiff and cold,” according to Basalt Fire Chief Scott Thompson. Paramedics were immediately dispatched.

“When they were responding it turned into a second person” who was unresponsive, he said.

The two men couldn’t be revived, Thompson said. A third person at the home was taken by ambulance to an area hospital after suffering possible respiratory arrest, Thompson said.

The emergency responders used Narcan to try to revive the two men, as is standard when there is no obvious reason for a patient to be unresponsive, Thompson said.

“That’s our protocol for treating an unconscious person,” he said, adding that sugar is often dispensed as well. In this case, the sugar and Narcan didn’t have an effect.

Narcan is a medicine that blocks the effects of opioids and reverses an overdose. Thompson said certain drugs are central nervous system depressants.

Investigators from the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office and the Eagle County Coroner’s Office were at the scene Friday.

“There is no threat to other residents,” said Eagle County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Jessie Porter. “This is an active investigation.”

The house where the deaths occurred is a ranch-style modular with four bedrooms, according to the Eagle County Assessor’s website. The owner is listed as a resident of Glenwood Springs, but no telephone number was available.

Ermine Lane is quiet cul-de-sac of working-class families. A resident of the block said the current tenants at the scene moved in during December.


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