Two Riverview teenagers were found dead on Monday morning from what police believe to be carbon monoxide poisoning.
St. Petersburg police said the two teenagers, 17-year-old Dorian Gomez and 14-year-old Emily Sabow, were found in an SUV in a closed garage. The teens were students at East Bay High School.
According to officers, Gomez' mother found her son and Sabow, his girlfriend, Monday morning in a garage at 2175 Corinne Ct. S in the Country Club Villas. The garage is unattached to the apartment.
Police said the teens were both seated inside the family's 2002 Mitsubishi SUV with the garage door closed. Both were unresponsive and fire rescue responded, pronouncing both victims deceased at the scene.
"When you see death like this, accidental -- so young -- it's a challenge," said assistant police chief Jim Previtera.
Gomez' mother reported that he had left the home at about 3 p.m. Sunday to pick up Sabow, but she wasn't aware they had returned.
She attempted to call his cell phone several times during evening without success and reported them missing to the police at about 11 p.m. last night.
Both families searched through the night for any sign of the teenagers, and using GPS data from cell phones, finally realized the teenagers were somewhere on the property.
Police say that at first the parents couldn't open the garage door, but they were eventually able to pry it open using kitchen utensils, which is when they made the discovery.
Police say Sabow was inside the SUV, and Gomez was half outside of it, as if he had tried to get out but was overcome by fumes.
Homicide detectives are investigating, but preliminary indications are that the two teenagers decided to sit in the SUV at some point Sunday night. They left the SUV running, and at some point closed the garage door.
During that time they were overcome by the fumes and passed out.
"The fathers of course are questioning themselves, what they could've done differently," said Previtera. "I told the one father, great father, did everything he could do."
It appears though they died some point Sunday afternoon. By the time they were discovered, the SUV was completely out of gas.
Police said both teenagers were from Riverview, and that the boy spent time with both his father, who lives in Riverview, and his mother, who lives in St. Petersburg.
Carbon monoxide is a gas that is invisible and has no smell or taste. Symptoms of CO poisoning include headache, nausea, weakness, abdominal discomfort, dizziness and confusion. If you suspect you might be experiencing CO poisoning, go outside immediately and seek medical attention.