Two Found Dead At Howard County Fair, Overdoses Suspected: Police

WEST FRIENDSHIP, MD — Two food vendors at the Howard County Fair died as the result of suspected overdoses, according to police. There was evidence of drug use at the scene, authorities reported.

Police said the preliminary investigation has revealed no evidence of foul play.

Officers were called to the Howard County Fairgrounds at 11:50 a.m. on Tuesday because two people were locked inside a bunk house.

Fire department personnel forced their way inside and found one man in his 30s and one man in his 40s, police said; both were deceased.

The men were from out of state and their identities have not been released pending next of kin notification, police said.

Authorities were called to check on the men when they did not show up for work, according to WJZ.

They had been selling food at the fair, which runs from Aug. 4 to Aug. 11 at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship.

The fair president described the case as an "isolated incident" and the venue remains a "safe place to bring your kids," according to WJZ, which reported workers employed by vendors at the fair are subject to random drug screenings.

It was not specified what drug(s) may have been involved in the overdose. The bodies of the two men will be taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for an autopsy.

Since the beginning of the year, there had been 27 fatal overdoses and 118 nonfatal overdoses in Howard County as of Monday, Aug. 6, according to the Howard County Police Department.

File photo by Elizabeth Janney.