The Los Angeles County Coroner’s office has released the cause of death as accidental for the 45-year-old La Cañada woman who was found dead in her vehicle the evening of March 23 in the 800 block of Monarch Drive.
The cause of death has been determined as the “intentional inhalation of volatile gases, accident,” according to the Ed Winter of the coroner’s office.
“There were multiple cans of compressed gases found in the vehicle,” he added.
Cans of compressed gas is often used in inhalant abuse, or huffing. It is the purposeful inhalation of chemical vapors to achieve an altered mental or physical state.
The woman, according to Winter, had a history with this type of drug abuse.
In a letter to the city of La Cañada in April, resident Joel Robinson wrote of his concern with increasing incidents of people parking in the cul-de-sac near his home on Monarch. He mentioned the discovery of the woman’s body as added concern. Mayor Laura Olhasso, city manager Mark Alexander and Capt. Dave Silversparre were aware of the letter and worked on a solution. Silversparre reviewed the station’s records and found that there were a total of 17 reports filed regarding activity on Monarch Drive last year.
Alexander said the city’s traffic engineer was moving ahead with red curbs being painted to restrict parking in the area.
Silversparre requested regular patrol checks along Monarch Drive and the surrounding area and spoke with public works about putting up signs limiting parking.
The woman found in her vehicle was an isolated incident, Silversparre said at the time of the discovery.
