Two dead of heroin overdose in Jefferson City motel

Two Jefferson City residents were found dead of an apparent heroin overdose inside a motel Sunday morning.

A housekeeper found Michael A. Rogers, 55, and Sandra S. Rogers, 46, inside a room at America’s Best Value Inn on Jefferson Street around 11:30 a.m.

According to a news release, officers who made contact with the housekeeper called detectives to the scene when they found drugs inside the room.

Detectives later determined the pair been using heroin in the room before they died.

Families of the victims still had to be contacted Monday as police continued an investigation.

ABC 17 News reported last week that overdose numbers in Jefferson City and Cole County remained high, after seemingly peaking in late 2011 and early 2012.

Since August 2012, there had been five fatal heroin overdoses. That number rose to seven this weekend.

EMS crews responded to 123 overdoses and administered Narcan 54 times since then, though not all of those were necessarily heroin.

Last week, Jefferson City police told ABC 17 News the department was struggling to be as aggressive on heroin enforcement has it had during a 2012 push because it was down 14 officers.