Distraught kids find their mum and pilot dad dead from drug overdoses on bedroom floor after they failed to wake them up for school
Authorities say couple likely took large amounts of super-strength synthetic drug many times more powerful than heroin
AN AIRLINE pilot and his wife have been found dead by their young children after a suspected drug overdose.
Authorities say Brian Halye, 36, and Courtney, 34, are likely to have taken large amounts of fentanyl — a powerful synthetic opiate much stronger than heroin.
Their bodies were discovered by their four young children at their home in the US city of Centreville, Ohio.
In a distressing call to emergency services, one of their girls tells the dispatcher: "They're not waking up."
The couple, who each had two kids from previous relationships, were found lying on their bedroom floor at around 8am on Thursday when the children, aged 13, 11, 10 and 9, were not woken for school.
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The father of Mrs Hayle's children also died in 2007 from a accidental drug overdose at the age of just 27.
In a later 911 call, in which children could be heard crying, their 13-year-old son said: "They’re not breathing… They were very cold."
Pilot Brian Halye had flown as a captain with commercial firm Spirit Airlines for nine years.
On Thursday company spokesperson Paul Berry said: "Our hearts go out to the family, friends and colleagues of Captain Halye."
The company also confirmed that Halye's last flight before he died was six days earlier on Friday 10 March — raising questions over the effectiveness of pilot drug screening.
His two children have been taken in by their mother, while the other children are thought to be being looked after by family members, reported.
A spokesperson for Spring Valley Academy, the school where two of the children attended, released a statement commenting on the "heartbreaking loss".
"We are doing all we can to provide all appropriate support for them and all their classmates," it said.
It could take up to six weeks for a toxicology report to determine the exact cause of death.
But Montgomery County Coroner's Office Director Ken Betz said: "preliminary indication is probable accidental drug overdose".
Centerville Police spokesman John Davis said the deaths are likely related to super-strength fentanyl "due to paraphernalia found at the scene".
He told NBC News that the couple's death was symbolic of the growing opiate problem in America.
He said: "It doesn’t matter how much you make or where you live or how educated you are.
"It crosses every line, and that’s probably what’s most frustrating.
"I can’t put it into words. It’s hard to imagine as a parent, as a police officer, as just a person."
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