3 From Toms River Fatally Overdose In Voorhees Hotel: Cops

VOORHEES, NJ — Three Toms River residents apparently died of fatal overdoses in a hotel room in Voorhees, Camden County, police said Friday.

Voorhees police were dispatched to the Wingate Inn on Laurel Oak Road to check on the well-being of three people at about 12:45 p.m. Thursday afternoon.

When they couldn’t reach the people in question, they asked for assistance from hotel management to get into the room. Once inside, they found the people dead of apparent overdoses, according to the Voorhees Police Department.

Voorhees police and the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office are investigating the incident. Although police said the victims were residents of Toms River, they weren’t immediately identified. Police also didn’t identify the substance that caused the fatal overdoses.

Two of the victims were 39, and one was 40, according to the Courier Post. They didn’t report for work. Police believe they were doing HVAC work in the area.

Voorhees Police Capt. Carmen Del Palazzo told nj.com the police department responded to about a half dozen overdoses last year. He also said he has never seen anything like this. Police are in the process of notifying family members.

The opioid epidemic has hit South Jersey hard, including along the Jersey Shore, but there was a decline in overdoses in Ocean County last year from the previous year. In 2017, there were 163 overdose deaths in Ocean County, Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato has said. That number is a decrease from 211 in 2016.

Patch file photo