GBI probing another suspected overdose death in Macon

An autopsy is planned this week after a 34-year-old Macon man died of a suspected overdose Sunday.

Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones said Robert Ketchup was found unconscious Thursday at his mother’s home on George Street, off Ayers Road.

“We found a bunch of pills on him,” Jones said.

Ketchup was hospitalized for about three days before he died in the intensive care unit of Coliseum Medical Centers, Jones said.

Dozens of overdoses in little over a week in the Macon area have alarmed authorities in Georgia and prompted a GBI probe into toxic street drugs.

Bibb County sheriff’s Lt. Randy Gonzalez said deputies were called to investigate another suspected overdose Friday on Putnam Street.

A 63-year-old woman was found unconscious and taken to the Medical Center, Navicent Health, said Gonzalez, a public information officer.

“We don’t know for sure if it’s related,” Gonzalez said.

An update on the woman’s condition was not immediately available.

Authorities are using extreme caution with pills found with Ketchup and are analyzing their contents, Jones said.

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office released photos of counterfeit Percocet pills that are believed to be linked to the recent overdoses, and the GBI has identified synthetic opioids in some of the drugs.

This story was originally published June 12, 2017 at 7:25 AM with the headline "GBI probing another suspected overdose death in Macon."