- March 27, 2024
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UPDATE:
Michael Donald Saunders was confirmed dead in his Honda Dec. 7, in the Palm Coast Walmart parking lot, after an apparent suicide.
According to the report from the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, a Walmart employee on a 3 p.m. break observed a man in a car next to him. The man was slumped over and did not respond to tapping on the window. The employee called 911.
Deputies arrived and later confirmed it was Saunders. He was slumped over in the driver's seat. His sandals were under his feet, but not on them. There were no obvious signs of physical trauma, and his hands were in a relaxed position. His keys were in the ignition, though the car was off, and the fuel gauge was on empty.
Upon further investigation, deputies found ashes from about six pieces of charcoal briquettes on a piece of tinfoil underneath the passenger seat. Deputies believe it was a suicide because burning charcoal in an enclosed area can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.
Preliminary results from the autopsy in St. Johns County confirmed the cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning.
Contact was made with Saunders' mother, Judy, who said he had attempted suicide several times since he was 12 years old. He had recently threatened to use charcoal to commit suicide, and Judy Saunders hid the charcoal in the home. She did not know whether he obtained from the home or from another source.
Judy Saunders also said a friend of her son told her of a phone conversation with him between 2 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. Dec. 7. The friend said Michael Saunders seemed to fall asleep during the conversation, and the conversation ended.
The original story was as follows:
Details are few so far. But according to Public Information Officer Debra Johnson, there was a suicide reported in a vehicle Dec. 7, in the Palm Coast Walmart parking lot.
According to a Facebook user whose husband works at the store, when she went to pick him up from work, there were multiple law enforcement and fire vehicles on the scene.
More to come, as it becomes available.