Long Beach residents are believed victims of carbon monoxide

Coroner’s investigators have identified two of the three people found dead, possibly of carbon monoxide poisoning, in an apartment in Long Beach.

The three were found Monday night in the apartment with a large portable propane heater.

Long Beach residents Jamie Ballantyne, 34, and Albert Salazar, 51, are the two identified victims, according to Lt. Fred Corral of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. The third, a man, has not been identified.

Autopsies were set to be performed Wednesday.

It is unclear how long the three were inside the apartment before their bodies were discovered, Corral said.

Police were called after the building in the 1100 block of Gardenia Avenue was overwhelmed by a foul odor, which some residents traced to the apartment where the three bodies were found.

Nancy Pratt, spokeswoman for the Long Beach Police Department, said in a statement that the heater found near the bodies was not intended for indoor use.

Police suspect carbon monoxide poisoning may be a factor in their deaths.

Long Beach fire officials said 400 to 450 people die each year in the U.S. from carbon monoxide poisoning.

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