La Porte County, IN – OTIS | A LaPorte County man died in his sleep from carbon monoxide poisoning after leaving his pick up truck running inside his attached garage.
Dennis Rivich, 86, was found dead Friday morning in his bed at 0288 N. U.S. 421 near Otis.
A family member made the discovery when she went to his home to bring him coffee and his blood pressure medication, police said.
LaPorte County Police public information officer Mike Kellems said the accidental death points to a need for homes to have carbon monoxide detectors.
“It’s just as important as it is to have a smoke detector in your home,” Kellems said.
The investigation shows Rivich spent the previous evening at the home of his nephew watching a football game.
He made the short drive back to his home in his 1990 Chevy pickup truck and pulled into his attached garage.
The vehicle was left running when he shut the garage door and went inside his home. Police said it appears he went to bed and was overcome by the poisonous carbon monoxide gas in the exhaust filtering into the residence.
Ken Rivich told investigators his uncle was “fairly healthy” but had been suffering from recent memory lapses.
According to police, the truck had burned about a quarter tank of gas while idling all night and the odor of exhaust inside the home was “almost overwhelming.”
“It’s unfortunate this happened to this gentleman and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family,” said Kellems, who urged everyone to use carbon monoxide detectors.
Prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide is lethal, and when leaking from any source, be it a furnace or gasoline engine, detectors alert to the presence of the colorless, odorless gas which can produce very few, if any, symptoms.
Michigan City Fire Department investigator Mark Baker said it doesn’t take long for carbon monoxide to reach lethal levels and that variables like wind speed and the health of an individual determine the amount of time it takes for death to result.