Suicides spiked last year in Porter County, with more recorded in 2009 than in any of the previous 14 years.

Fatal drug overdoses, on the other hand, dropped significantly, as did fatal motor vehicle accidents (MVAs), contributing to an overall—and substantial—decrease in accidental deaths.

According to the Coroner Vicki Deppe’s 2009 report, released on Tuesday, a total of 35 persons committed suicide in Porter County last year, compared to only 15 in 2008, an increase of 133 percent.

In fact, the 15 suicides recorded in 2008 is the second fewest in the last 15 years—14 were recorded in 1998—but even so the average annual number of suicides since 1995 is 20 and since 2000 is 21.

Of those 35 suicides, 20 died by gunshot wounds; four by MVA (three were pedestrians, one a driver); four by hanging or strangulation; three by carbon monoxide poisoning; three by drug overdose or poisoning; and one by drowning.

Twenty-seven of the suicides were male, eight female. The victim’s average age was 43. The youngest was 16; the oldest, 66 (three); and two of the victims were in their teens (both Chesterton residents) and eight in their twenties.

Seven of the victims were Dunelanders; 15, Valparaiso residents; and seven, Portage residents.

Deppe told the Chesterton Tribune today that, popular assumptions notwithstanding, her investigations could establish no obvious correlation between the spike in suicides in 2009 and the crash in the economy. “It was usually a personal problem,” she said. “Sometimes there was a secondary issue. Maybe a person lost a job, drank too much, had a drug problem. But usually it was a relationship problem.”

Deppe noted that her office investigates apparent suicides as thoroughly as possible. “We interview all the significant people involved, friends and family,” she said. “We comb the scene for evidence, of course, notes and papers. But the interviews are the important thing. If a person had consulted a mental-health professional, we talk to them.”

“I don’t understand why people want to blame suicides on the economy,” Deppe added. “Nobody likes to hear that it’s not the economy. That surprises me.”

Meanwhile, 22 persons died of accidental drug overdose or involvement last year, compared to 28 in 2008, a decrease of 21 percent. Of those 22 fatalities, seven were attributed to heroin, six to morphine, three to Fetanyl, two to methadone, two to cocaine, and one each to Hydrocodone and Codeine.

Sixteen of the overdose victims were male, six female. The victim’s average age was 39. The youngest was 20; the oldest, 69; and six of the 21 victims were in their twenties.

Only two of the victims were Dunelanders, a 42-year-old male and a 44-year-old male. Eleven of the overdoses occurred at Portage residences; two at Valparaiso residences; two at South Haven residences; one each in Kouts and Hebron; and three in Porter County motels.

Deppe did say that the “overwhelmingly older average age of the overdose victims indicates that “they tended not to be new users but long-standing ones.”

“People talk about kids using drugs and that’s certainly a problem,” Deppe remarked. “But there needs to be a focus too on the treatment of old users. Right now there really aren’t many programs set up to treat long-standing addicts.”

Twenty persons died in motor vehicle accidents last year, compared to 27 in 2008, a decrease of 26 percent. That tally is the fourth lowest number in the last 15 years—14 in 2006, 19 in 2003, and eight in 1997—during which period an average of 24 people died every year in MVAs.

The annual number of fatal MVAs has been trending upwards as Porter County’s population has increased and the roads become more congested. The average number in the seven years between 1995 and 2001 was 23; the average number in the eight years between 2002 and 2009, 26.

Seven of the fatal MVAs occurred in Duneland, compared to seven in 2008, 10 in 2007, and four in 2006.

Nine of the victims were drivers; three, passengers; five, motorcyclists; two, pedestrians; one, a bicyclist. Three involved a semi or tractor.

The youngest victim was a 9-year-old pedestrian girl. An 11-year-old pedestrian girl died at Porter Valparaiso Hospital Campus but was struck in Jasper County. The oldest victim was 70. Six victims were in their twenties.

There was a total of 56 fatal accidents last year in Porter County, including overdoses and MVAs, compared to 72 in 2008, a decrease of 21 percent.

In fact, though, the 72 fatal accidents recorded in 2008 were the most in any year since 1995, while last year’s 56 were the third most. Over those 15 years in Porter County 43 persons on average have died annually in accidents.

There were 15 accidental deaths not attributable to overdose or MVA:

•Five from “overlay,” “wedging,” or positional asphyxia, all involving infants younger than a year in age. In such cases, Deppe explained, “a caregiver typically rolls over on the baby while they’re sleeping in the same bed or on a couch. We had a really bad stretch of that last year. We look very carefully at these cases, do full-body x-rays. If there’s any evidence at all of neglect or abuse, we want to find it.” In none of last year’s cases was such evidence found, Deppe said.

•Two from alcohol abuse or intoxication.

•Two from falls.

•One each from respiratory arrest, hypothermia following a boating accident, drug involvement, gunshot, and choking on food.

One other person died in a tractor accident and a 4-month-old infant died of sudden infant death syndrome.

Two pieces of good news: there were no drownings last year in Porter County, compared to six in 2008 including the two at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore; and there were no deaths in house fires.

There were four homicides in 2009, all by gunshot: Andrew Katzelis, 82, of South Haven, in January; Jeremiah Higgens, 27, of Portage, in May; Aaron Blum, 32, of Morgan Township, in August; and Juan Garcia, 33, of Valparaiso, in October.

Last year’s four homicides is the same number as recorded in 2008. Over the last 15 years Porter County has averaged around three homicides per year, with a high of six in 2000 and a low of none in 1998.

Deppe ordered 74 autopsies last year, compared to 93 in 2008, a decrease of 20 percent. Of those 74 autopsies, 16 or 22 percent were performed by a forensic pathologist. The 74 autopsies ordered in 2009 represents the third least ordered in the last eight years, with a high of 98 in 2002 and a low of 59 in 2003.

Last year 347 deaths were reported to the Coroner’s Office, compared to 340 in 2008, a nominal increase. Of those 347, Deppe investigated the manner and cause of death, and signed the death certificate, in 171 cases, compared to 169 in 2008, again almost the same. In the remaining cases, a physician signed the death certificate.

A total of 1,467 deaths were recorded last year by the Vital Records Division of the Porter County Health Department, compared to 1,353 in 2008, an increase of 8 percent.

Posted 2/24/2010