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May 8, 2008

ODs. . .

State Office of the Medical Investigator spokesman Tim Stepetic said Tuesday that no cause of death was apparent after Martinez's autopsy was performed, and the Office awaits toxicology test results to make a determination.
John Gurule, 22, of El Duende, was found deceased in his vehicle, parked outside Fallen Angel tattoo parlor in Española, Española Police Sgt. Christian Lopez said.
Lopez said Gurule's mother Denise found her son and called police around 6 p.m. May 3. Denise Gurule had last seen her son that morning when he left the house where she lived along with Gurule and his fiance Valerie Montaño.
No drugs, paraphernalia, alcohol, or anything else suspicious was found inside the vehicle, Lopez said.
"That's why we're not ruling it as an overdose yet," Lopez said. "But there are other things leading us to suspect it was."
Stepetic said the Office is awaiting toxicology testing results before making a determination on Gurule's cause of death.
Gurule pleaded guilty to controlled substance possession, two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, marijuana possession, and controlled substance distribution in three cases spanning 2004 and 2007, an online court records database states.
An Una Ala Chemical Dependency Clinic client had a non-fatal overdose May 3, though he was revived and walking around when Rio Arriba County Sheriff's Department Lt. Manuel Valdez arrived shortly after 10 a.m. The Department did not take a report on the incident, and the man's name was not recorded.
Valdez said the man told him he had picked up his methadone that morning and then shot up with heroin at about 9:30 a.m. He was transported to Española Hospital to be checked out.
Gilbert Gonzales, 32, of Hernandez, was transported to Española Hospital May 4 to be treated for an overdose of an unknown substance, a police report states. Police were dispatched to Española Hospital after Gonzales became combative, the report states; he was subsequently arrested on an outstanding warrant for failing to comply with conditions of probation, the report and an online court records database states.
Gonzales pleaded guilty to his second aggravated DUI offense in February 2008 and a warrant was issued after he failed to report for alcohol abuse treatment, according to the database.
Two non-fatal overdoses were reported Monday within a 15-minute span. Nick Gonzales, 17, stopped breathing after taking several unidentified pills at 11:15 a.m. in El Llano, and did not respond to family members' attempts to revive him. Gonzales, who has overdosed on drugs before, according to statements made to dispatchers, was revived by paramedics.
The second overdose reportedly happened at Hindi Shell station in Española. Jeremy Trujillo, 24, was transported for a suspected overdose of liquid morphine and treated successfully, according to Española Deputy Police Chief Larry Ham.
Española Police Sgt. Christian Lopez said an increase in accidental overdoses is not uncommon for this time of year.
"When it starts getting warm more people are partying, meeting people, picking up their stash," Lopez said.
So far this year, the Office has officially declared one death in Rio Arriba County was caused by an accidental drug overdose.
The Office has not yet made a determination on four other deaths considered suspected overdoses by law enforcement; in total, the cause of death for eight Rio Arribans so far this year have not been released pending toxicology test results.

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