The investigation into the deaths of a couple who died weeks apart earlier this month, police say there is a strong indication that the cause of death of the man found in his vehicle at Palau Community College parking lot may have been due to carbon monoxide poisoning caused by his vehicle’s exhaust leaking into the car’s interior.
The man, Ken Iyekar, was found after passersby saw him sitting in the same spot in his vehicle for two days and called the police. He was pronounced death at the scene and there were no signs of foul play or struggle found by the police.
A week earlier, his girlfriend was found unresponsive in the same vehicle and taken to the hospital, where she died several hours later. According to the police, the doctors said that her “pre-existing poor health conditions may have been triggered by carbon monoxide poisoning.”
Police say they are still waiting for doctor’s final medical report on the male victim to get confirmation on cause of death. If medical report confirms the cause of death to be carbon monoxide poisoning, it will be the first such recorded case in Palau, and of not one but two deaths.