College Students Found Dead Inside Balloon

The Las Vegas Sun ^ | 4 June 2006 | AP

[buccaneer81]

LOL! See post #9.

[Tall_Texan]

Oops. Misidentified.

"Hey Linda! Sara! Ever done it inside a balloon?"

[handk]

Six weeks for the toxicology results?

That's got to be a misquote, because on the CSI shows the tox results come back in about five minutes. Five minutes!

[Minutemen]

Apparently, these "students" were not science majors because anyone with half a brain would know you would suffocate in a ballon full of helium.

[GreenHornet]

The county medical examiner said Sunday that the cause of death won't be released for six weeks, until toxicology results come back.

This statement seems kind of strange to me. I'm not trying to find any humor in this - regardless of how they died, it's a very tragic event - but the cause of death seems pretty obvious in a case like this. Condolences to the families.

[buccaneer81]

Jason Ackerman

Tampa,Florida
Graduated: N/A
Degree: In Progress
Major: Advertising
Minor: Creative Writing

[Jotmo]

The plastic thing on the bottom is a blower. Blows air into the balloon to keep it inflated.

It's NOT filled with helium. (The one in the Pic anyway)

I could in vision a scenario where they're playing around inside the balloon, the blower quits for whatever reason, it deflates, and they're trapped and suffocate. Or the tear the balloon and it deflates. Many things could happen.

Anyway, if it had a blower, it did not have helium.

[mtbopfuyn]

The myspace - egads.

[buccaneer81]

Anyway, if it had a blower, it did not have helium

Are there 8 footers that use helium?

[LdSentinal]

Poor kids.

Prayers to their families.

[Tall_Texan]

KILLER BALLOONS STALK FLORIDA!!!!!

Can they be used as traps against Florida's killer alligators? Or perhaps as a floatation device if someone is swept out to sea in one of Florida's killer hurricanes?

[wolficatZ]

http://www.mydeathspace.com/deaths.aspx

[Zhang Fei]

Article: An 18-year-old died in 2003 in Vancouver, Canada, after inhaling the helium he was using to blow up balloons for a toddler's birthday party. And a 48-year-old software consultant died in 2002 in Morrisville, N.C., after inhaling helium from a 20-pound tank.

I suspect this comes from watching too many movies where people do the helium inhalation trick without any ill-effects. This is kind of like when a couple of Taiwanese tourists in South Africa were mauled by a lion after getting out of their jeep to pose with the animal. Very sad. Folks, don't try this at home.

[Rte66]

My browser didn't like that page - it let me look at it a little bit, then it "aborted".

Here was his page I found earlier:

http://www.myspace.com/jasonackro

Apparently he was engaged to someone else ("BrokenSoul"), not the girl who died with him.

Even though they "crawled inside" the balloon, the handyman who found them said he saw bodies protruding from the deflated balloon. Oh, maybe that means the plastic had settled around them, showing the 3D outline of their bodies.

I was thinking he meant they were halfway in and halfway out of the balloon material. Like the Wicked Witch and the house. (Sorry.)

[Joan Kerrey]

I really find it hard to believe that two people could be this stupid.

I wonder if the baloon was clearly labeled "do not enter" or "danger" Sounds like a lawyer might be able to make a few bucks here.

[Joan Kerrey]

It happens all the time where I live.

LOL

[CremeSaver]

One of my all time favorite movies. LOL!

[Joan Kerrey]

half a brain would know you would suffocate in a ballon full of helium.

were warning labels posted appropriately? Is the condo HOA insured and, if so, for how much? Who made the baloon and are they insured? Who left helium in such a place that allowed access? Was the baloon airborne and if so can the city be held responsible? Is the city insured and with whom and for how much?

[Joan Kerrey]

cause of death won't be released for six weeks,

seems like a long wait.