Family releases private autopsy results for Dupo woman they believe died suspiciously
A Dupo woman died from a meth overdose, according to results of a private autopsy that her family ordered after maintaining that authorities didn’t thoroughly investigate her death in January.
The autopsy report, which was released this week, stated that Lori Meyer, 51, also had fentanyl in her system.
“She died of acute methamphetamine toxicity,” said Dr. Jane Turner, a forensic pathologist with Virchow Consulting Services in St. Louis, who performed the autopsy.
Meth is a stimulant that can cause cardiac arrest, particularly in Meyer’s case due to the autopsy’s finding that her heart was enlarged. The report indicated that she died quickly because the drug hadn’t metabolized.
“I can’t say whether it was an accident or suicide or homicide,” Turner said in an interview. “I don’t have enough information to make that conclusion. There has to be further investigation.”
Turner reported no signs of choking or other injuries, which the family had suspected due to Meyer’s past. She had an active order of protection against her boyfriend, who had been convicted four times of domestic battery in 2021 while living at the home.
Meyer’s roommate told Dupo police that the boyfriend was with her when she died but left before officers arrived. He wasn’t questioned.
The BND isn’t naming the roommate, the boyfriend or another woman who claimed to be living at Meyer’s home at the time of her death because they’re not charged with crimes in the case.
Meyer’s brother, Scott Larson, a California resident formerly of Waterloo who paid $5,000 for the private autopsy, said the results raise questions about who gave her the drugs and under what circumstances.
“I 100% believe Lori was murdered,” he said.
Meyer’s family has maintained that her safe, jewelry, phones, prescription drugs and other items were taken from the home around the time of her death and that local talk about the case has raised suspicion.
Death occurred on Jan. 20
Dupo police responded to a 911 call about 1:30 a.m. Jan. 20 and found Meyer unresponsive in the bedroom of her home on Minnie Avenue, according to the police report.
The St. Clair County coroner’s office made a preliminary determination that Meyer likely died of natural causes, probably a heart attack, based on her chronic health problems and obesity and her roommate’s statement that she’d been complaining of chest pains the day before.
Coroner Calvin Dye turned down the family’s request for an autopsy, saying investigators didn’t consider Meyer’s death to be suspicious, having found no signs of a struggle in the home or marks on her body to indicate she’d been harmed.
Dye didn’t respond to a request for comment this week, nor did Dupo Police Chief Dennis Plew.
“I understand the family wants something done because of the situation with her boyfriend,” Plew said in January. “But there was just nothing there that the police officers and (deputy coroner) who were on scene could find. ... There were no signs of any foul play at all.”
Dye said in January that he was going to examine Meyer’s medical records before determining an official cause of death. As of this week, no death certificate had been issued.
Meyer’s brother still argues that police should have questioned her boyfriend and the coroner’s office should have conducted an autopsy.
“The only thing the (private) autopsy tells me is that she did not die of natural causes,” he said. “She overdosed, and the police and the coroner said there was no sign of drugs anywhere.”
15 police visits in a year
Meyer was a widow with a grown son and stepson and two grandchildren. Her family has acknowledged that she led a troubled life that included domestic violence, substance abuse and chronic health problems such as lupus, asthma, depression and bipolar disorder.
“I know my sister wasn’t perfect,” Larson said.
Dupo police reports show that officers were called to Meyer’s home 15 times between Oct. 10, 2020, and Sept. 1, 2021, mostly to handle domestic disputes, including batteries, subject-removal requests, disturbances and order-of-protection violations.
The reports mention her boyfriend’s drinking, but not illegal drugs. One notes that Meyer was hard to understand due to the apparent effect of medication. Her St. Clair County record included a 2014 conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol, but no drug arrests.
On the morning of Meyer’s death, police interviewed a man at the home who identified himself as her roommate. He told them she had complained of chest pains radiating down her arm the day before but refused to go to the hospital.
Later that morning, the roommate “stated Meyers had always been in a lot of pain, from numerous ailments,” according to the police report. “(He) stated he had been present on many occasions where he witnessed Meyers using illegal narcotics such as Heroin and Fentanyl to dull her pains.”
Police working on a different case later interviewed a woman who claimed to be living with Meyer at the time of her death. The woman told them that she and the male roommate gathered up and removed all of the drugs, prescription and illegal, from the home, according to the police report.
Larson said Meyer could have been taking narcotics, but it seemed odd for her to use meth, a stimulant and not a painkiller, before going to bed.
“I have no idea what I should do,” Larson said. “I’ve talked to the police station until I’m blue in the face. (The police) think she was crazy, and she could have been, but that doesn’t mean she deserved to be murdered.”
This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
