Caffeine Overdose Kills Drill Instructor

A 30-year-old drill instructor at the Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot died from an overdose of caffeine pills, Beaufort County Coroner Curt Copeland says.

Initial autopsy results show that Sgt. Michelle R. Rowland died Aug. 12 after taking between 80 and 90 of the pills. The autopsy found no signs of physical trauma and toxicology tests show she died from a drug overdose, the coroner said.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigated after Rowland, of Oak Harbor, Wash., was found unconscious by her husband, Staff Sgt. Harold E. Rowland, in their trailer home on Parris Island.