Spirit Airline Pilot and Wife Found Dead by Kids After Possible Overdose Death 'Had Their Problems': Friend
Just days after Ohio couple Brian and Courtney Halye were found dead by their children in their Centerville home of a possible drug overdose, friends and family are grappling with the sudden loss - and seeking answers.
“I knew that they had their issues,” Courtney’s friend, Monica Camacho, tells PEOPLE, “but I honestly thought that she had things under control. This is so shocking to everyone.”
Brian, 36, was a pilot for Spirit Airlines. He married Courtney, 34, in 2012. They each had two children from previous relationships - he, two daughters and she, a son and a daughter. The children ranged in age from 9 to 13. They are currently staying with relatives.
On Thursday morning, the Halye’s children peeked into their parents’ bedroom after they failed to wake them up for school. After finding their unresponsive parents, the 13-year-old son called 911 and told the operator, “I just woke up and my two parents are on the floor.”
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“My sister said they’re not waking up,” the boy continued as the three sisters cried in the background. “They’re not breathing They were very cold.”
For those close to the couple, the way they were found has compounded the tragedy. “Just thinking that [he] found them is heartbreaking,” says Camacho. “I know you hear this all the time, but they were caring parents, good parents. They had issues, especially Courtney. She had struggled with substance abuse. But that doesn’t change the fact that she really loved her kids.”
A Previous Incident
A police incident report from January 2016 alleged that Courtney - a Type 1 diabetic - had a history of drug use.
According to the report obtained by PEOPLE, Courtney’s mother had grown concerned after the two women had a phone conversation. Courtney’s mother, Nancy Case, contacted Centerville police and said that her daughter was suicidal and abusing narcotics.
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Brian had also contacted police around that that time after returning from a flight from Detroit to find Courtney missing, the Dayton Daily News reported. According to the newspaper, she returned to their house later and locked him out. When he forced entry, he allegedly found her holding two unloaded guns, according to the newspaper. (PEOPLE was unable to obtain a police report for that case.)
Courtney was allegedly taken by medics to the hospital for treatment, The Dayton Daily News reported, after police said she appeared mentally unstable and possibly intoxicated or having a medical issue related to diabetes.
Those close to the Halyes are awaiting more information about the couple’s death.
Authorities are still investigating the cause of death. While a toxicology report could take four to six weeks, the coroner lists the preliminary cause of death as one that is “consistent with a heroin or fentanyl overdose.”
“I want to know what went wrong,” says Camacho. “They had everything, and now it’s gone. It’s devastating.”
