PORTSMOUTH, Va. -- Two bodies were discovered Thursday in an apartment where high levels of carbon monoxide were found, police said.
Officers were called to the 1700 block of South Street shortly after 9 a.m. after a relative found the male and female who lived in the apartment unresponsive.
After entering the apartment, firefighters tested and discovered elevated levels of carbon in the residence , said Jan Westerbeck, spokeswoman for the Portsmouth Police Department. Following the discovery, police evacuated the apartment.
Fire crews began testing carbon monoxide levels in adjacent apartments and discovered they were also high. Emergency officials evacuated the entire building and its gas source was turned off.
Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority and Columbia Gas employees are testing all of the community's 210 apartments.
The victims have been identified as Leroy Stith, 65, and Inez Stith, 65, Westerbeck said. The Medical Examiner's Office will determine a cause of death, she said.
Copyright 2012 - Daily Press, Newport News, Va.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
