Carbon monoxide poisoning appears to have claimed two lives in Silverhill, Alabama. Samantha Combs and her mother, Donna Henderson, were found dead in their mobile home just before midnight on Monday, March 8. The coroner’s report is back in Combs' case and reveals she did in fact die of a lethal dose of carbon monoxide poisoning. Results of her mother's autopsy are still pending, and the police are still investigating the matter.

Carbon monoxide can be dangerous because it is undetectable by normal human senses. It gives off no odor, has no taste or color, and its symptoms can often be mistaken for those caused by other ailments. Lethal doses of carbon monoxide don’t always occur all at once but rather build up over days or weeks until dangerous levels are reached. Symptoms can be headache or nausea, and are often mistaken for signs of the flu. A victim might begin feeling sick, take a nap to try to recover and never wake again.

Carbon monoxide poisons the body by replacing oxygen in the blood, bonding with molecules that would otherwise carry oxygen where it’s needed. This process can be very slow, occurring over hours, days, or even weeks. Poorly maintained heating fixtures in homes are the most common culprits, although automobile exhaust carries substantial amounts of the substance as well. This is why automobile owners should not start or run gas-powered vehicles inside an enclosed structure, such as a garage.

Carbon monoxide detectors are readily available, easily detect the gas, and can warn people long before levels build to the point where they can be dangerous or fatal. Once a leak is detected, the source can be tracked down and repaired, be it a water heater, stove, gas fireplace or house furnace.

In the case of Combs and her mother, the source of the CO that poisoned them is as yet undetermined. Last seen on the Friday before their bodies were found, the undetected CO leak in their mobile home poisoned the two slowly and quietly over the weekend with no outward indication of the pending tragedy.