Suspected OD victim found dead, naked in van stopped by cops

WHITEHALL, Pa. — WHITEHALL, Pa. (AP) - A naked woman dead from a suspected drug overdose was found in the back seat of a van pulled over near Pittsburgh because her boyfriend was driving erratically and, apparently, also under the influence.

That man, 36-year-old Joseph Sokolowski, of Whitehall, was in the Allegheny County jail Thursday on charges of drug possession, driving under the influence and abuse of a corpse.

A county sheriff's deputy stopped Sokolowski's van and found him disoriented, and 32-year-old Ashley Morgenstern, blue and cold to the touch. The Pittsburgh woman was pronounced dead at the scene Wednesday in Whitehall.

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Sokolowski told investigators Morganstern was his girlfriend.

Chief Deputy Kevin Kraus calls the incident the latest example of the heroin and opioid epidemic he called "almost impossible to control."

Deputies are crediting the woman who flagged them down for getting involved in reporting the reckless driver.

Associated Press