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Police have concluded that two residents found dead at a Dorset care home died of natural causes but an inquest will be held to establish the cause of a third death.
The deaths of the two men and one woman led to all residents at the Gainsborough care home in Swanage being evacuated amid fears the three may have suffered carbon monoxide poisoning.
Seven months on Dorset police said they had concluded that a 74-year-old man and the 86-year-old woman died of natural causes with carbon monoxide poisoning ruled out.
The force said officers believed the cause of death for the third person, a 91-year-old man, was believed to be “unnatural” but their investigations had not revealed any third-party involvement or contribution of environmental factors that required further police investigation. It will be down to a coroner to examine the circumstances of his death.
Police received a report at 7.16am on Wednesday 23 October 2024 that there had been three unexplained deaths at the care home in Ulwell Road.
In a statement, the police said: “Due to the unusual circumstances involving three deaths occurring in close succession and no immediate confirmed cause of the deaths, a multi-agency response was instigated and an investigation was launched, led by detectives from Dorset police’s major crime investigation team.
“Information presented to police during the early stages of the incident indicated a possible link to the presence of carbon monoxide. Following this information, a 60-year-old local woman was arrested.
“Within a short space of time, detectives were able to rule out a leak of carbon monoxide from the care home’s boiler or any other gas appliances. A thorough examination of the scene also ruled out any other apparent environmental factors that may have contributed to the deaths.
“Once these enquiries had concluded, the arrested woman was immediately released from the investigation without charge.”
Since then detailed forensic pathology work has been carried out to try to establish the cause of the deaths.
DCI Neil Third, of Dorset police, said: “We were duty bound, and indeed the public would expect us, to fully investigate the circumstances of the deaths. All agencies worked closely together and the relevant experts were consulted.
“At the forefront of our minds have been the families of the three individuals involved, as we have conducted exhaustive enquiries into the full circumstances of the deaths of their loved ones. We have kept them fully updated and would like to thank them for the way they have conducted themselves over recent months as we carried out a range of complex enquiries.”
