A woman found with a crack pipe hidden in a body cavity after her arrest on drug charges Dec. 16 died Monday night, a week after going into medical distress, Polk County authorities said.
An autopsy will be conducted on April Rollison, 31, who was one of four people arrested together on drug charges, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
A body scan at the jail revealed two "foreign bodies" in Rollison's vaginal area, and she was taken to Bartow Regional Medical Center to have them removed, deputies said.
While Rollison was in a private room, a nurse and deputy saw her with a prescription bottle in her hand containing two grams of crack cocaine and a white substance, later identified as cocaine, investigators said.
Rollison was examined, and a glass crack cocaine pipe was removed from her vagina. She was medically cleared and taken back to the jail for booking, authorities said.
But when she arrived back to booking, she went into medical distress. She was taken back to the hospital and remained in critical condition until dying Monday night, investigators said.
Preliminary tests on Rollison were positive for methamphetamine, amphetamine, cocaine and cannabis, the sheriff's office said. She is suspected of ingesting cocaine.
Family members told investigators Rollison had been using drugs since about 12 and they had not had contact with her in about two years.
The Medical Examiner's office is conducting an autopsy independent of the sheriff's office. The State Attorney's Office also will investigate.
Before her death, Rollison was charged with possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia and introduction of contraband into a detention facility. The sheriff's office said she has had numerous drug charges.
Rollison's last known address was in Sebring. The people arrested with her denied knowing she had hidden the items in her body.