Porter County Coroner Chuck Harris is reporting the first suspected heroin fatality of the year.

On Monday, a 30-year-old Portage man was found deceased at his residence. Paraphernalia was observed at the scene and a heroin overdose is suspected, Harris said.

Two other persons have died in 2012 of suspected overdoses: one, a 17-year-old girl, is believed to have committed suicide after taking an overdose of prescription medication; the other, a 39-year-old man, is believed to have overdosed on morphine.

Last year Harris reported a total of 17 confirmed or suspected heroin-related deaths. One of those 17 deaths was that of a Duneland man who committed suicide under the influence of heroin. Another was that of a Michigan woman killed when the vehicle in which she was riding was struck by a LaPorte man who police said was driving under the influence of heroin.

If the suicide and the fatal motor vehicle accident are included in the tally, last year’s total of 17 falls one short of the previous year’s total of 18 confirmed or suspected heroin-related fatalities.

In 2011, Harris also reported, there were a total of 28 confirmed or suspected drug-related fatalities, with the most common kind of drug involved—after heroin—being prescription medication. There were also three deaths last year by alcohol toxicity and one suicide by morphine.

Posted 2/3/2012