WEST RIDGE — Three months after a neighbor discovered the body of a woman under furniture in a West Ridge alley, the Cook County Medical Examiner's office ruled her death was from a lethal combination of alcohol and the opioid fentanyl.
The death of Juanita Arreguin, a 50-year-old resident of the 700 block of Oakton Street in Evanston, was officially ruled an accident, officials said Tuesday.
Her body was discovered Sept. 13 in the 6100 block of North Maplewood Avenue when a neighbor backed out of the driveway and noticed Arreguin, prompting a death investigation. The toxicology reports were completed this month.
Arreguin worked as a housekeeper several days a week for a home in Lincoln Park over the last two years, her employer said. She was considered "like a part of the family" to her and others she worked with.
Arreguin's employer described her as a happy, dependable, hard-working woman who was also a mother herself.
Her employer told DNAinfo she knew something was wrong when Arreguin didn't show up for work at her usual time, a behavior unlike her.
A friend who spoke with her last the day before she was found and was out with Arreguin in the days before she died, said she was a fun-loving woman who enjoyed hanging with friends at Far North Side bars and dance clubs on the weekends.
Fentanyl overdoses have been on the rise in recent years, particularly in 2016.
Fentanyl is a highly-addictive opioid generally prescribed to treat pain because it is 50-100 times more powerful than morphine, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
“Drug incidents and overdoses related to fentanyl are occurring at an alarming rate throughout the United States and represent a significant threat to public health and safety,” said Michele Leonhart, an administrator for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, in March.
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