Fort Wayne, IN – Investigators have concluded that a woman found dead in January in a vacant storefront on South Anthony Boulevard died accidentally from carbon monoxide poisoning.
On Jan. 23, the body of Dana Gersper was discovered inside the storefront that was under renovation in the Anthony Wayne Village Centre, a strip mall just south of McKinnie Avenue. Gersper, 33, was from Auburn.
A second woman was found alive in the space, and she was taken to a hospital in serious condition, Fort Wayne police said. Her name was not released.
In the storefront, there were three or four machines, including a generator, that could have produced carbon monoxide, a toxic gas, but investigators could not pinpoint the source, said Assistant Chief Jim Murua of the city fire department.
Soon after the women were found, firefighters checked for dangerous fumes and did not register any, though that was after emergency crews had opened doors and ventilated the space, Murua said.
Police initially came to the scene about 1:10 p.m. after an anonymous caller said there was a dead body and possibly another in the lot across from Belmont Beverage and hung up. Officers searched the area, and in the process, checked the storefront where the women were later discovered but found no one at the time, police said.
About an hour later, the owner of a business in the strip mall noticed a suspicious odor coming from the storefront and reported that people inside needed help. Emergency crews were dispatched, and they found the two women, police said.
Officers came across ingredients for making methamphetamine in the storefront and in a vehicle linked to the investigation. Police believe the storefront was the site of a meth lab.
The investigation involved two other people, a man and a woman, who showed up at an emergency room that day but were not hospitalized, police said. No arrests were made.
Investigators determined in March that Gersper died from carbon monoxide poisoning, coroner’s office spokeswoman Patt Kite said Saturday. However, the cause of death was only recently released.