2 women found dead a week apart in same Northern California motel room

A Eureka motel has been closed after two women were found dead a week apart in the same room, the city’s police said.

The deaths happened Feb. 21 and Feb. 26, said a police news release issued Thursday, March 5. It did not name the motel, but the Eureka Times-Standard identified it as the Lamplighter Inn, on Broadway (Highway 101) at Eureka’s south end, and published a photo of the motel’s rooms cordoned off by red hazard tape.

In each of the two incidents, emergency workers responded to a report of two unconscious people in the room. And in each case, a woman was found dead and her companion was taken to a hospital, the police said.

During the second incident, Humboldt Bay Fire personnel on the scene displayed unspecified signs of carbon monoxide exposure, the police said, and a monitoring device registered elevated levels of that toxic gas. The room did not have a carbon monoxide detector.

The motel was ordered by Eureka’s code enforcement division on Tuesday, March 3, to remain closed until the heating and ventilation systems of all rooms have been inspected and carbon monoxide detectors installed.

The women who died have not been publicly identified — one was 36 and one 37, the police said — and their causes of death have not been released. The surviving person in the Feb. 26 incident was reported to be in critical condition when admitted to the hospital.

The emergency calls were initially described as being for suspected drug overdoses, but a police spokesperson told the news site Lost Coast Outpost that there was no evidence in the room supporting that conclusion.

Carbon monoxide is an odorless gas that can be emitted by malfunctioning fuel-burning heaters. Early symptoms of poisoning include headaches, dizziness and nausea.