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Many questions remain unanswered, but police theorize that a Syracuse man who died two weeks ago became spooked while high and swallowed his stash.
The results of an autopsy released Thursday by Kosciusko County Coroner John Sadler reveal Samuel A. Cannon died of a cocaine overdose nine times the lethal level.
Cannon, 18, of 5206 E. Bayview Drive, swallowed a plastic zipper bag containing cocaine. The bag ruptured in Cannon's digestive track and he suffered a seizure and died.
Police do not know why Cannon ingested the cocaine. Chief Craig Allebach, Warsaw Police Department, wondered whether Cannon heard an ambulance siren and panicked, thinking police were pursuing him.
The ambulance that Cannon theoretically heard was picking up another man suffering a seizure outside Da-Lite Screen. The other seizure victim was David Hall, 42, Dewart Lake.
Police originally thought Cannon, who was pronounced dead at Kosciusko Community Hospital at 12:38 p.m. Nov. 26, might have been doing cocaine with Hall prior to his death.
Authorities questioned Hall but he didn't recall anything from the two weeks prior to his seizure at Da-Lite.
The ambulance log from Nov. 26, the day Cannon overdosed, reports seizure calls to Da-Lite and Myer Levin. The calls were within an hour of each other and the businesses are within a half mile of each other.
Information has been forwarded to the prosecutor's office and charges are pending against Hall for cocaine possession, but no connection between the two men has been officially established.
Cannon was found convulsing in his car, which was in a ditch off CR 250N east of Ind. 15, near Myer Levin.
Police looked into the ambulance runs following a call from Kosciusko Community Hospital reporting Cannon's death. Reports showed there was no outward damage to the vehicle and Cannon's body showed no outward signs of crash trauma at the scene.
According to Sadler's report, the official cause of death was acute cocaine intoxication. The report was issued following a complete postmortem and toxicology examination.
According to Sadler, 1.2 grams of cocaine ingested orally can be fatal. Determining just how much cocaine Cannon ingested is difficult, he said. The body absorbs the powder readily, leaving no residue as could be found in a capsulated drug overdose.
