Two maintenance workers found dead near fentanyl in downtown L.A. apartment

Two maintenance workers were pronounced dead at a downtown Los Angeles apartment Thursday after their bodies were found near fentanyl, authorities said.

Los Angeles police were called around 10:50 a.m. to an apartment in the 800 block of South Olive Street where two men had been found unconscious. Los Angeles Fire Department personnel also were called to the scene, and the two men were pronounced dead.

A white, powdery substance was found near the men's bodies, and it was later tested by the LAFD's hazmat unit and found to be fentanyl, officials said.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office identified the men as John Black, 52, of Los Angeles, and Luis Garcia, 31, of Pasadena.

Family members of the men contacted the apartment building's property manager because they had not returned home the night before, police said. The manager then went to their last known work location, where their bodies were found.

Both men's cause and manner of death were unknown on Friday, pending investigation by the coroner's office.

The deaths come a week after three men were found dead of apparent fentanyl overdoses in a downtown L.A. apartment on Spring Street.

Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 107,000 people died of overdoses in 2021, up 15% from a record high set in 2020.

Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl are reportedly driving the increases, officials said.

Times staff writer Gregory Yee contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.