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Columbiana man found dead by housemate

COLUMBIANA — City police are awaiting toxicology reports to provide insight into the death of Columbiana man last week.

After receipt of a call to dispatch, officers responded at 4:11 a.m. March 26 to a residence in the 330 block of Edgewood Drive, where a male subject was found deceased.

Joseph Mraz, of 334 Edgewood Drive, was discovered by his female housemate who called authorities.

Due to the drug history allegedly associated with the residence, a representative of the Columbiana County Drug Task Force was notified.

The female caller resided in the basement of the home of the deceased, who was identified as Mraz.

She relayed that she found Mraz the day before in an upright position naked, with slurred speech and not acting normal.

After offering to call an ambulance, which he declined, she helped him into the same green shorts that he was found wearing, went back downstairs and hours later, she returned and found him still unwell, called a relative and reached out to dispatch for a medical emergency response.

During their investigation, three prescription medications were noted in the report by police. They found bottles of olanzapine, which is traditionally used to treat anxiety; mirtazapine, often prescribed for insomnia and clinical depression; and topiramate, prescribed for epilepsy, bipolar disorder or migraines.

Only the topiramate seemed mostly full.

Columbiana County Coroner investigator Wade Boley verified Thursday that there wasn’t an autopsy on Mraz done; however, they did do toxicology tests and expect the results in four to six weeks.

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