Mysterious death triggers rumors
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Popular beverage not cause of Tierra Amarilla woman's undetermined illness
5/29/2008 - 5/30/08
Though Internet rumors state otherwise, the brother of a Tierra Amarilla woman who died under mysterious circumstances a week ago said Thursday he doesn't think a popular bottled beverage is to blame."Honestly, I don't think the water did this to her," Christian Lopez said of his sister, Paula, who died at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. "We don't know what killed her."
Someone, however, thinks they have the answer.
A well-circulated e-mail message — titled "Vitamin Water killed my friend" — claims Christian Lopez, who is a detective with the Española Police Department, investigated his sister's death and found a poisonous ingredient in anti-freeze was discovered in both Paula Lopez's body and the Vitamin Water she'd been drinking. Further, the e-mail message alleges that unopened bottles of the beverage found in Paula Lopez's refrigerator also contained the poison.
"That e-mail is wrong," Christian Lopez said Thursday. "We didn't find anything in her refrigerator. There's not even a criminal investigation on her."
Still, the circumstances surrounding her death are strange and, for the time being, remain unanswered, he said.
Paula Lopez, 49, who was the assistant recreation director for Rio Arriba County and ran the swimming pool in Tierra Amarilla, had been sick with what she thought was the stomach flu for two or three weeks before her death, Christian Lopez said. She had lost her appetite and had developed a pain in her upper left side during that time, he said.
She began continuously drinking Vitamin Water, a popular flavored drink, because she thought it would keep her hydrated and full of nutrients, Christian Lopez said. "She figured the vitamins would supplement her because she couldn't keep food down," he said. "And it tasted good. She was drinking a lot of it."
He didn't know if she was a regular Vitamin Water drinker before her illness.
Christian Lopez said he had lunch with his sister May 16, and she had complained of the pain in her side. The next day was Saturday, and Paula Lopez went to several graduation receptions, he said.
She arrived at her home in Tierra Amarilla around 7 p.m. and told her mother she had "a terrible headache," then went to bed about 8 p.m., Christian Lopez said. Christian Lopez called the home about 10 p.m. to check on his mother, who told him something was wrong with his sister. His mother said his sister, who didn't drink alcohol or do drugs, seemed to be acting drunk, he said.
When he spoke to his sister, Christian Lopez said, she was out of breath and delirious. He asked her if she wanted him to call an ambulance and she said yes. Meanwhile, Christian Lopez drove up to Tierra Amarilla from Española and arrived about five minutes after an ambulance got there, he said.
Paula Lopez was combative as they put her in the ambulance, then became unresponsive by the time they reached Ghost Ranch, Christian Lopez said. She was airlifted to St. Vincent from there, he said.
At the hospital, doctors discovered Paula Lopez was suffering from glycol alcohol poisoning and began treating her immediately, Christian Lopez said. "The docs were perfect," he said.
Ethylene glycol is an ingredient in anti-freeze, fire extinguishers and certain inks — among other things — and can cause significant amounts of damage to the body even in small doses, according to MedlinePlus, a medical encyclopedia produced by the National Institutes of Health. The symptoms of glycol alcohol poisoning include convulsions, fatigue, headache, nausea, rapid breathing, no urine output and unconsciousness, according to MedlinePlus.
Paula Lopez responded favorably to the treatment, although she remained at St. Vincent, Christian Lopez said. A toxicology screen done May 22, after she had been there five days, found zero levels of glycol alcohol or anything else in Paula Lopez's body, he said. She regained consciousness May 22, then spoke to her brother May 23, he said.
Christian Lopez asked his sister Friday if she'd intentionally ingested the poison. He said the question angered her. She also told him she couldn't think of anyone who would want to poison her, he said.
Paula Lopez went into respiratory arrest about 5:30 p.m. that day, followed by cardiac arrest, Christian Lopez said. She died about 9 p.m., and was buried in Tierra Amarilla on Wednesday.
The hospital sent the bottles of Vitamin Water found in Paula Lopez's car to a lab for testing, though the results are not yet known, he said. He also said he went to his sister's home Thursday to retrieve the rest of the Vitamin Water for an investigation by the Office of the Medical Investigator, which was unable to determine a cause of death.
"If somebody did this to her, I guarantee I'm going to find them," Christian Lopez said. "I know it's not a suicide, I'll tell you that right now."
Christian Lopez said OMI continues to run tests to try to figure out what killed his sister. He said he thinks it might have been a stroke. He also thinks his sister might have come in contact with the glycol alcohol from paint used to repaint the Tierra Amarilla swimming pool, Christian Lopez said. "(Glycol alcohol) comes in everything," he said.
He said he doesn't know when the results of the tests from the hospital or OMI might be available.
An OMI spokesman wasn't available for comment Thursday afternoon.
Christian Lopez said he received a call on Thursday morning from representatives of the Coca-Cola Co. in Atlanta, which produces Vitamin Water, who said they were concerned about the case and the Internet rumors, and would conduct an independent investigation to see if any contamination occurred at their end. "They want answers as much as we do," he said.
A spokeswoman for Vitamin Water said Thursday that the company has received no reports of people being poisoned by the product.
Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com.
