PEORIA Chase Bennett and Annabelle Rodgers, who knew each other only briefly before linking up on a fateful night in November, each died of accidental overdoses of multiple drugs, Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood said.
Bennett, 25, of Peoria Heights, and Rodgers, 18, of East Peoria, were found dead Nov. 17 in a Limestone Township residence owned by a Bennett acquaintance. Their struggles with addiction, as well as the challenges of their families, were chronicled in a recent story in the Journal Star.
Bennett died from an overdose of heroin, fentanyl (a synthetic opioid used for pain medication and with other drugs as anesthesia), clonazepam (a tranquilizer often used for panic disorders) and methamphetamine (a stimulant often made and sold illegally), according to a forensic pathologist s report. The same pathologist said Rodgers died from an overdose of fentanyl, clonazepam and methamphetamine.
He was gregarious and loved a big, loud party. She was demure and preferred the quiet company of a few friends.
They seemed to have little in common, aside from a persistent ache for drugs, addictions that overwhelmed their families with anxiety and worry.
Their families don’t know the nature of the relationship. They don’t believe the two had known each other long.
But Chase Bennett, 25, and Annabelle Rodgers, 18, died together at a Peoria County residence Nov. 17, likely of a drug overdose, authorities say. The specifics of their deaths, including the fatal drug, remain unclear, though the investigation continues.