Bartholomew County Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team is continuing an investigation into the death of a local man found in a vehicle at the Circle K in Taylorsville on Friday.
A full forensic autopsy was conducted and toxicology tests were ordered for Christopher A. Purdy, 33, Columbus, after he was pronounced dead at Columbus Regional Hospital on Friday, said Bartholomew County Coroner Clayton Nolting.
Toxicology results are due back in about two weeks, Nolting said.
Bartholomew County Sheriff deputies were notified at 4:25 p.m. Friday that an intoxicated driver was at the 78 mile marker of southbound I-65, said Sheriff Matt Myers.
A witness gave a description of the vehicle, telling dispatchers it was swerving into and out of the slow and fast lanes on I-65, and had almost hit another vehicle, Myers said.
The witness said the female driver, later identified as Emily A. Clarence, 27, 10461 W. Grandview Drive, Columbus, appeared to be nodding off and at times was swerving on and off the interstate’s shoulder.
Clarence exited the interstate at the Taylorsville exit and went to the Circle K, where deputies attempted to speak with her, Myers said. Clarence appeared to be falling asleep and had a cell phone in her hand, Myers said.
Deputies tapped on the window and Clarence told them she was trying to connect her phone to WiFi, Myers said.
A male passenger, later identified as Purdy, was in an odd position lying on the car seat, and was pale and had blue spots on his back where his T-shirt had moved, Myers said.
Deputies determined he was not breathing and called for an ambulance while administering two doses of Narcan and administering CPR, Myers said.
Purdy was later pronounced dead at the hospital by the coroner’s office, Nolting said.
When Clarence was questioned, she told deputies that she had gone to Greenwood to pick up Purdy to bring him back to Columbus, and thought he was overdosing, but that he “would come out of it” as he had done at other times, Myers said.
Due to the deputies’ observations, Clarence was arrested on a preliminary charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated – drugs, and has since been released from the Bartholomew County Jail after a 48-hour hold, Myers said.
“This goes to show you we still have a (drug) problem,” Myers said of the incident, which is still under investigation.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
