Andrea Canning

He did have COVID when he died.

They did find signs of COVID in his system, but they said that did not contribute to his death at all.

So what had killed Eric?

It would take a few more weeks for the toxicology results to come back.

Finally, there would be some real answers, but not the ones anyone expected.

Nearly everyone who knew him asked the same question.

How could a seemingly healthy 39-year-old suddenly die in his sleep?

There were multiple stories around town about how Eric might have died.

And it all started, actually, from the night that EMTs responded.

On body camera footage, we hear some of them wondering, how did this healthy young dad die?

A month later, there was an answer.

Former homicide detective Wayne Nichols reviewed the case for Dateline.

The results of the toxicology come back weeks later.

And it's stunning to a lot of people in Eric's world.

Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin.

It's a painkiller that some abuse because of its intense high.

At the time of Eric's death, paramedics suspected he may have taken drugs, so they administered Narcan, but it had no effect.

What made it even harder to fathom was the amount of fentanyl found in Eric's system.

He had a lot, a significant amount of fentanyl in his body, more than five times what is considered a lethal amount of fentanyl.

And the ME confirmed the fentanyl was street made, not prescription grade.