HARRISON – A Harrison woman died of a drug overdose last fall after a night of partying, according to a toxicology report obtained by the Sun Journal on Tuesday.
Nancy Allen, who was 29, was taken to Bridgton Hospital early in the morning by her friends after she passed out on a couch at a Vacationland Road apartment in Harrison on Nov. 26, 2005.
She died before reaching the hospital, police said.
The apartment was the residence of Brian Freese and John Ireton-Hewitt, Capt. William Rhoads of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said at the time. Several other people also were with Allen the morning of her death, Rhoads said.
The report issued to the newspaper Tuesday by the Maine Office of Chief Medical Examiner states Allen died from acute morphine and alcohol poisoning.
Police explained that after opiates like heroin are ingested, they are broken down into morphine inside the body.
Detective Gerard Brady of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, who has been investigating Allen’s death, said he presented his findings in the case to an assistant district attorney.
A Cumberland County grand jury will determine whether to press charges.
Although the toxicology report said Allen was a known drug user, Brady said all of Allen’s friends and family were shocked to hear she had used heroin.
“It was all positive affirmations about her,” Brady said, adding that Allen’s mother had told him her daughter was healthy and athletic.
Brady also said Allen worked with children at The Bridge Crossing Program in Bridgton, a residential program for youth with mental health needs. Attempts to contact her former co-workers were unsuccessful Wednesday.
“She was a great worker,” Brady said. “She went to work all the time, on time. If she was an illicit drug user, there would have been signs.”
People not used to heroin are often more susceptible to overdosing on the drug, Brady said.
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