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Yesterday, The Herald reported what seems to be a return to old-time bank robbery. Today it is a tragic "moonshine"
story.
Two men have died and four
are hospitalized in serious condition after
drinking methanol - they thought was
moonshine.
Sergeant A. D. Beasley of the Mercer
County Sheriff's Department said
32-year-old Roger Coeburn died
Tuesday and 38-year-old Kenneth Lacy
Earnest died Thursday of poisoning.
Methanol has been found in
Coeburn's bloodstream, after the substance was mistakenly passed around.
Authorities have not determined
how much methanol was consumed, or
whether the liquid contained other
substances because the container has not
been located.
Coeburn's mother, Betty, is one of the four
people hospitalized.
Officer Kevin Walker of the Matoaka
City Police Department
says a neighbor of the Coeburns
bought the
methanol, but thought it was gasoline.
After pouring a half-gallon of the
substance into his gas tank,
the man reportedly summoned another
neighbor to his mobile home to have a drink because it
smelled like
moonshine.
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