Woman who went missing in February died of alcohol and drugs, authorities say

A Laguna Hills woman whose body was found in April in the Cleveland National Forest died of an overdose resulting from a combination of alcohol and a club drug known as GHB, authorities said Wednesday.

Tests showed that Erica Alonso, 28, had a blood alcohol concentration level of .22% and GHB, also known as liquid ecstasy, in her system, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. The combination was lethal.

Alonso was last seen alive leaving her boyfriend’s home in Irvine on Feb. 15, sheriff’s officials said.

GHB is a central nervous system depressant popular with some nightclub patrons and is often referred to as the “date rape” drug.

In Alonso’s case, Lt. Jeff Hallock said there was no evidence that she was sexually assaulted. The manner of her death remains undetermined, he said, but authorities don’t believe she was the victim of a homicide.

Investigators do believe, however, that after Alonso overdosed and died, somebody tried to get rid of her body, so they left her in the forest, he said.

“It appears that somebody else is involved,” Hallock said.

Knowingly disposing of a body after an accidental death is a misdemeanor, he said.

Alonso had gone to a Costa Mesa nightclub with her on-and-off boyfriend on Valentine’s Day for drinks.

At the club they met another couple who offered to drive them to her boyfriend’s home.

Alonso’s Honda Civic was found March 25 in the parking lot of a residential complex in Aliso Viejo, but her whereabouts remained unknown.

On April 28, biologists working for the California Department of Transportation found her body off Highway 74, about 12 miles east of Interstate 5.

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