Summit coroner: Transient death a suicide

SUMMIT COUNTY ” The Summit County coroner has ruled the death of Johanna Briscoe, a tran­sient found dead in her campsite off Baldy Mountain Road, a suicide.

Briscoe, 29, was found by police on Aug. 11, the morning after she and her boyfriend apparently had an argument.

Coroner Joanne Richardson said on Monday that Briscoe died of an intentional overdose. Results from a toxicology test showed Briscoe had ingested one to two bottles of Benadryl and her blood-alcohol con­tent was over .3, Richardson said.

Briscoe was originally from Okla­homa, but had lived in the Summit County area for at least five years working odd jobs and camping.

Police were called to the North Fuller Place trailhead off Baldy Mountain Road on Saturday, Aug. 11, after a hiker found Briscoe’s semiconscious boyfriend lying near the trailhead. He said he’d been stabbed and his girlfriend was dead at the campsite.

Police later determined that Briscoe stabbed her boyfriend in the thigh during an argument the night before, then bandaged his wound. He fell asleep and found Briscoe dead in the morning. He hiked from the campsite, located in a densely wooded area, to the trailhead to get help.