Natural causes said to be likely cause of death for Sequim couple

Two died at same time, same place

SEQUIM — Clallam County officials are awaiting final toxicology results, but it appears that two people who were found dead in their Sequim apartment on Feb. 2 died together without either drugs or foul play being responsible, according to Nathan Millett, Clallam County deputy coroner.

“It’s looking like this might be an incident where two people died of natural causes at about the same time. It’s definitely rare, but not unheard of,” he said.

“Their initial drug screens were negative, but we are waiting on final results from the toxicology lab before determining the official cause of death due to the unusual circumstances,” he wrote in a Wednesday afternoon email.

The two people were identified as 57-year-old Sheila Leach and 51-year-old Monty Plank.

The pair was discovered when family members requested a welfare check after not being able to reach them by phone or in person for several days.

Millett added that the fire department ruled out a gas leak and there was no evidence of foul play or forced entry at the scene and no evidence of trauma at the autopsies.

Millett also said health department officials are still awaiting toxicology results for the two women, one 34 years old and the other 57 years old, who died together in a Sequim residence on Jan. 16.

Foul play was not suspected in that case in which a 7-year-old, the child of one of the women, who was in the house, was taken into custody by Child Protective Services.

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Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached at brian.gawley@soundpublishing.com.

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