Hackensack, NJ – A broken tailpipe and faulty catalytic converter are believed to have caused the carbon-monoxide deaths of two friends found inside a parked Chevy Tracker on March 25, authorities said Friday.
“The tailpipe was rotted, separated from the car and cracked,” Hackensack police Capt. Pat Coffey said Friday. “When the mechanics ran the car, exhaust was going up into the car.”
Mechanics also said the car “didn’t sound right” and the catalytic converter appeared to be malfunctioning.
Police on Friday released the names of the victims Michele Pierre, 24, of New York and Robert Spain, 30, of Hackensack.
Spain lived in the neighborhood where the car was found, police said.
Coffey described the two as “close friends” and said the woman had a boyfriend who was elsewhere that night. “He was aware” of the friendship, Coffey said.
Police said the vehicle belonged to Pierre’s boyfriend’s mother.
A witness saw the car parked at 2 a.m. The bodies were found about 8:30 a.m.
The two appeared to be talking when they passed out, Coffey said.
“When (carbon monoxide) affects you, you may just get sleepy,” Coffey said. “It looks like they apparently fell asleep peacefully and died.”
The captain said toxicology reports are incomplete and that police are waiting for those results before closing the case.