Toxicology tests confirm carbon monoxide killed 7 in Kirksville

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (AP) -- Toxicology tests have confirmed that carbon monoxide poisoning killed seven people, including two children, inside a duplex in the northeast Missouri town Kirksville three months ago, police chief Jim Hughes said Tuesday.

Hughes said test results showed that all seven victims had blood levels of carbon monoxide at "greater than 60 percent saturation."

Police have checked out rumors of foul play, but believe those rumors are unfounded, Hughes said. Cause of death for all seven will be listed as accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.

"No plausible scenario has been advanced to suggest that this was anything other than a tragic accident," Hughes said.

Emergency crews were called to the duplex Dec. 17. One of the victims, Maranda McDermott, 23, had failed to show up for work, and friends went to the duplex that afternoon to look for her.

They found the victims inside the duplex and an odor that smelled like vehicle exhaust.

A van was found in the garage, the key in the on position. The van had run out of gas.

Grayling Ramsey, McDermott's stepfather, said at a candlelight vigil soon after the deaths that his son had called the duplex about 1 a.m. that day and was told that one of the young people was in the garage, listening to music in the van.

"He probably got cold and turned it on," Ramsey said at the time. "He probably went upstairs and starting playing video games and forgot all about it.

"He was unaware you can't do that. All he had to do was crack the door."

In addition to McDermott, the victims included her 1-year-old son, Adam McDermott Jr., and 23-month-old daughter Melina McDermott; Phillip Scruggs, 21; Rachel Findling, 21; Reginald Washington, 21; and Jeremy Liner, 19. All seven lived in Kirksville. None attended Truman State University, just a few blocks from the home.

A woman living in the building's other apartment was briefly hospitalized and found to have high levels of carbon monoxide in her blood, but has since recovered, Hughes said.

The children had a 4-year-old sister who wasn't home at the time, and who is now under the care of her grandparents.

Kirksville, a town of 17,000 residents, is about 30 miles south of the Iowa border and 165 miles northwest of St. Louis.