CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. — State agents are investigating whether four deaths in the same Georgia county - all on Thursday - are connected by a single disturbing trend.
The bodies of these victims have been taken to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Crime Lab in Savannah where medical examiners are searching for clues in their unexplained deaths.
But District Attorney Jackie L. Johnson with the Brunswick Judicial Circuit believes that a deadly unknown drug may be to blame.
"Law enforcement is looking into the possibility that the substance believed to be cocaine continues a more toxic or lethal drug and that the substance may have been the cause of the other unexplained deaths," Johnson's office states in a press release on Friday.
Meanwhile, investigators are trying to track down the suppliers of the deadly substance for questioning. And GBI agents along with the Kingsland Police Department, Camden County Sheriff's Office and Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) are on the case.
The GBI reports one person has already been arrested as part of the death investigation. Thirty-nine-year-old Alonzo Davis was arrested on outstanding warrants and a spokesperson for the GBI reported that other charges are pending for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
"The public should be aware of the continued dangers of consuming illegal drugs," the agency said in a written statement.
Amid the opioid crisis, drugs laced with even deadly additions are not a new headline with the increase in laced heroin and fentanyl derivatives making the news. It's unclear if the current tainted cocaine investigation ties into similar national stories.
For now, they're hoping anyone with information about the deaths or any substance involved is asked to call the Camden County Sheriff's Office tip line at 912-510-5163.
