Nichols of Columbus said her brother was long dependent on drugs.
“He couldn’t get it off of his back,” she said.
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It’s yet unclear what, if any, role drugs directly played in the Abplanalp’s death while in custody at the Montgomery County Jail. Results of an autopsy may take up to 10 weeks, pending the results of toxicology tests, according to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.
Abplanalp, who grew up in St. Paris and attended Graham High School, was found unresponsive at 4:19 a.m. and could not be revived by Dayton Fire Department EMS crews. He was pronounced dead a short time later by the county coroner, said Maj. Matt Haines, the jail administrator.
Haines said Abplanalp was discovered by a corrections officer during an inmate count and wellness check. The officer called for a supervisor and medical personnel, he said.
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During the last six years, at least five other inmates have died in the jail or in a hospital shortly after being removed from the jail, according to Daily News records.
Haines said Abplanalp’s death did not appear to be caused by drugs smuggled into the jail, a constant threat that led the jail to recently install a full-body scanner that will soon become operational.
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“I have no reason at this time to believe it was an overdose,” Haines said. “It appears to have been a medical emergency. There may have been multiple factors.”
Haines said Abplanalp had been moved a day or so earlier to a first-floor cell by himself for better treatment of a medical condition.
“There was nothing in there to make it look like a suspicious death,” he said.
A special investigation is being conducted by the sheriff’s office, Haines said.
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Abplanalp’s parents, Dennis Abplanalp and Andrea Wright, who now live in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., said Tuesday they were also waiting on answers.
They said it was possible Dillon was going through withdrawal from drugs or another medical episode.
If his son was indeed suffering physically, Dennis Abplanalp hopes jail staff did not ignore medical needs.
“I just hope it wasn’t negligence on their part by not following up and checking on him,” he said.
Wright said the coroner’s office told them that it did not appear that their son had suffered foul play or been in a fight.
“At this point we still don’t know what caused his death,” she said.
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Moraine Police arrest records show how Dillon Abplanalp ended up in the Montgomery County Jail.
Two Moraine police officers responded just before 7 p.m. on Jan. 14 to the McDonald’s on West Dorothy Lane, where employees reported a male in a tan Cadillac Seville passed out in the drive-thru lane.
The man police later identified as Abplanalp was unresponsive but woke up as officers repeatedly knocked on the car’s windows, which were locked.
Both officers wrote in a police report that they saw evidence of syringes visible in the car.
A search of the car and Abplanalp’s pockets turned up 38 syringes, 12 grams of heroin and a stolen 9 mm Taurus semi-automatic handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets, according to the police report.
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Abplanalp was arrested for possession of drugs, receiving stolen property, carrying concealed weapons and having weapons under disability because of a prior felony conviction. He was also cited for have a fictitious car registration and no driver’s license.
The address given for Abplanalp on the police report corresponds to a homeless shelter, the St. Vincent de Paul Gateway Shelter for Men at 1921 S. Gettysburg Ave. He told Moraine police last week he was staying with friends, supplying an address in Kettering.
Adopted by the Champaign County family when he was three, Wright said her son’s smile could “light up a room.”
“He had a big, big personality,” she said.
Wright said they moved their son to Florida where he did stay clean for several years and worked construction jobs.
Abplanalp now leaves behind a 3-year-old daughter.
“We have a great relationship with our granddaughter and she’s beautiful,” Wright said. “We are just fortunate we have her.”
Services for Abplanalp are pending, according to the family.
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