2 couples found dead in Fla. condos; CO poisoning suspected as cause

By Chrystian Tejedor
Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
Copyright 2007 Sun-Sentinel Company
All Rights Reserved

WEST DELRAY, Fla. — Two elderly couples were found dead of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning Wednesday night after the president of a Lexington Club condo board didn't show up for a meeting, authorities and neighbors said.

Concerned members of the Village 5 condo board called 911 to have someone check his second-floor unit, a neighbor said. A Palm Beach County sheriff's deputy got a key from another neighbor and found the first couple dead but was nearly overcome by fumes and retreated to get help from county Fire-Rescue, said sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Pete Palenzuela.

Fire-Rescue workers wearing breathing gear found the second couple dead in the ground-floor unit, said spokesman Capt. Don DeLucia. Both units had high levels of carbon monoxide, DeLucia said.
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BR>In the adjacent garage Fire-Rescue found a red Dodge Caravan minivan with its gas tank empty, the key in the ignition and the headlights on but dimmed, Palenzuela said.

Identities of the couples were being withheld until relatives could be notified.

"It's preliminary, but it appears to be accidental, a tragic accident," Palenzuela said.

Fire-Rescue evacuated the building's other two units, and officials were waiting until the condos were ventilated before going in shortly after midnight.

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Neighbor Sandy Diamond said she heard details of what happened from others in the complex. "I couldn't understand how it was carbon monoxide because the units don't have gas. Everything's electric, so it could only have come from the car," Diamond said.