Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Girl Dies of Accidental Overdose on Graduation Day

The Westmoreland County coroner says a 17-year-old Pennsylvania girl found dead on the day she was supposed to graduate from high school accidentally overdosed on a combination of prescription drugs.

Laura Elizabeth Hoover had no heroin or illegal drugs in her system, the coroner said. Investigators refused to list the drugs that killed her.

Hoover was a senior at Burrell High School, about 25 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, when her body was found in a car that came to rest against a tree in a neighboring township about 1 a.m. May 26.

"Laura was a deep thinker with a creative spirit and liked to travel. Last year she traveled to India where she was a volunteer in community service with children," her obituary reads. "She had visited New York City, Hawaii, and loved snow boarding in the mountains, caring for animals as a true vegan, the outdoors and was a creative artist and art admirer. With her love of children, she could be thought of as a professional volunteer."

An autopsy uncovered no sign Hoover was injured when the vehicle apparently drifted off the road.

Toxicology results from her autopsy were released Monday.

Allegheny Township police are investigating the source of the drugs and say that person could still be charged.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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