Sheriff’s Office confirms second death in Eyota investigation

(ABC 6 News) – The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office said a second person has died after an incident in Eyota over the weekend.

43-year-old Anthony Holzer has been confirmed as the second victim.

The sheriff’s office said an autopsy will be performed Wednesday.

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The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate a death over the weekend in Eyota but did say carbon monoxide poisoning has been ruled out.

The sheriff’s office said it received a call from a woman who lives at a home on the 500 block of Canyon Lane NW in Eyota on Saturday just after 1 a.m. to respond to an unknown medical call.

When law enforcement arrived they found three men unconscious in the garage. The woman told deputies the men had been in the garage since about 9 p.m. Friday and had been drinking, which was a normal occurrence. She said she went to check on them around midnight and everything was fine but when she went back to the garage about 45 minutes later she said they had started acting strange and were becoming unresponsive.

The sheriff’s office said a deputy responding noted the garage smelled like a gas exhaust and told the woman to open the garage door and let it air out. A gas furnace had been running in the garage and, initially, responding agencies thought this could be carbon monoxide poisoning.

As a precaution, Narcan was given to all three of the men. One of them immediately started to regain consciousness but was unable to talk with deputies. The sheriff’s office said a deputy asked the man if they had taken any drugs to which he gave a thumbs up. However, deputies were unable to find evidence of drug use in the garage.

One of the men, 38-year-old Brandon Mueller of Eyota was pronounced dead at the scene. The other two men, a 43-year-old and a 38-year-old both from Eyota, were taken to Saint Marys in critical condition.

The sheriff’s office said there are posts circulating on social media that a second person has died but they were not able to confirm this information as of Tuesday morning.

Initial autopsy results from the medical examiner’s office have ruled out carbon monoxide poisoning as a cause of death. The medical examiner is still working to determine if controlled substance use is a cause or contributing factor in the man’s death.