Woman dies of drug overdose outside cemetery

Years of sniffing solvent and illegal drug use finally caught up with a 24-year-old woman who died in agony as early cemetery-goers passed her by unaware yesterday morning at Sangandaan Public Cemetery in Caloocan City.

Crime scene investigator Senior Inspector Albert Arturo identified her as Michelle Solano. Local residents who knew her said Solano ran away from her Pasig City home as a teenager and had since lived in the cemetery.

A vendor, Fe Servilla, found Solano dead on a gutter just outside the cemetery walls. She was last seen alive at around 5 a.m. by live-in partner Benjamin Montemayor. Police found no visible signs of injury.

Helen Santiago, 33, owner of a barber shop across the cemetery, said Solano was a familiar figure who frequented her shop, often with a plastic bag of the solvent. She told The STAR that Solano had been a long-time drug user but had stopped sniffing solvent about two weeks before her death.

Santiago added that Solano had tuberculosis and often complained of having difficulty breathing. Her legs were also bloated, indicating a serious kidney disease.

Other local residents who knew Solano said she also often passed up meals but sniffed solvent to ease the hunger pangs.

A rag vendor who took pity on Solano gave her a piece of bread about two hours before she died. The vendor said Solano was still gasping for breath when she left her.

At around 9 a.m., a man noticed that Solano appeared to be dead and called local barangay officials. Her body was later picked up by men from a mortuary.

Santiago said Solano had been arrested countless times by the police in drug raids at the cemetery and turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development but she always returned a few days later.

Solano’s partner, a pedicab driver, is now in a quandary as to where to get money for her burial.