Woman's death in Olyphant apartment suspicious, police say

Aug. 8—OLYPHANT — The death of a 27-year-old woman discovered in her Olyphant home Tuesday is considered suspicious, said borough Police Chief James DeVoe.

Officials did not release the name of the woman found dead Tuesday morning inside her apartment at 609 Susquehanna Ave. or expound on the circumstances of her death. DeVoe would only say she did not die a natural death.

She was discovered deceased shortly before 10 a.m. An investigation into the circumstances of how she died remains ongoing. Borough and state police began to clear out from the quiet residential block at 2:45 p.m.

DeVoe said the woman's young son noticed smoke inside the apartment and went next door to find his grandmother, who discovered her daughter dead inside.

Firefighters briefly responded but soon cleared out.

Borough police called the Lackawanna County Coroner's Office to the apartment building, said Coroner Timothy Roland. Members of the state police forensic services unit, the reconstruction unit and its criminal investigation division assisted the borough officers, as did detectives from the county district attorney's office.

First Assistant District Attorney Judy Price went to the home and consulted with law enforcement officials there. She declined to comment.

District Attorney Mark Powell and Trooper Robert Urban, a state police spokesman, could not be reached for comment.

The investigation drew onlookers curious as to what happened.

Dominick Vanacore, who owns an apartment building on the block, said he planned to paint one of his units Tuesday but was told to step back from the block.

Police did not tell him what was going on but they asked to view footage from his security cameras, which did not work, he said.

Shaun Hastings, who planned to work Tuesday with Vanacore, reported smelling something burning. He said it smelled more like sulfur than a fire.

Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9100, x5187; @jkohutTT on Twitter.