Deadly drug mix blamed for NC woman’s death. Body was found in Orange County woods.

An autopsy released Saturday shows a Greensboro woman found in rural Orange County in October died from a toxic mix of cocaine and fentanyl.

A man walking his dog on Oct. 15 found the body, later identified as Susan Margaret Horkay, 35, in a wooded area west of Chapel Hill, off Heron Pond Road, Orange County deputies have said. Her body had been dragged into the woods, they said.

Horkay had “a history of drug abuse” and a “bindle of white powder” was found in her pants pocket, the autopsy said. Investigators suspected she overdosed at a different location before being dumped in the woods, it said.

A Greensboro man, Randel L. Riggsbee, 46, was later charged with felony concealment of death in the case, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Horkay, who also was known as Skylar Brooks, knew Riggsbee and had spent time at his home just before her death, investigators said. Riggsbee had “ties to Orange County” and was familiar with the area where Horkay’s body was dumped, they said.

A GoFundMe is still actively raising money to help with funeral and other expenses.

Horkay was “a person full of life who never came up short in giving to others,” the fundraiser said. “Someone who made friends with her demons just so she could laugh through life.”

Fentanyl-laced cocaine killing more NC victims

The number of suspected overdose deaths involving fentanyl exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials have said, with N.C. Department of Health and Human Services data showing a high of 3,354 deaths in 2022. There were only 1,490 deaths in 2019, data showed.

Last year, the number dipped slightly to 3,324 overdose deaths, it showed.

The number of people visiting a hospital emergency room for an opioid overdose also fell over the last 12 months. However, 46% of those who did die from a suspected fentanyl-laced overdose death had ingested a toxic mix of fentanyl and cocaine, data showed.

That was followed by fentanyl-laced methamphetamine at 32% of suspected overdose deaths, and slightly fewer deaths involving fentanyl and prescription drugs (21%) and fentanyl and alcohol (20%), data showed.

Heroin and other opioids, which were more closely associated with fentanyl a few years ago, were involved in only 13% of the fentanyl-positive overdose cases.

Over 60% of the fentanyl-positive deaths reported involved white victims, followed by Black victims, who comprised nearly 30% of those who died, the state reported. Most victims were between the ages of 25 and 54, it said.

The story will be updated.

This story was originally published March 23, 2024, 9:30 AM.