Wood County Coroner Mike St. Clair and Assistant Coroner Paula “Rocki” Louden appeared before the County Commission this week to present the 2025 coroner’s report. There were 16 suicides and two homicides reported in Wood County over the past year. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

PARKERSBURG — Wood County is seeing a decrease in drug-related overdose deaths, the county coroner told commissioners this week in his report on the year 2025.

In 2025, there were 39 drug-related deaths compared to 56 in 2021, 51 in 2022, 53 in 2023 and 45 in 2024, St. Clair reported.

Drug overdoses have been gradually going down, he said. St. Clair said those lower numbers are due to law enforcement efforts as well as work to secure the southern border and wider access to Narcan.

“Since 2015, there have been 422 overdose deaths with 68% male and 32% female,” he said.

Last year, 1,148 Wood County residents died, either here or elsewhere in the country. The total number of people who died in the county was 1,236 including residents and people passing through the area.

There were 172 incidents last year that required the coroner’s office to be involved.

“The coroner’s office is not involved in every death in Wood County,” St. Clair said. “People who die of a natural death such as cancer or advanced age, we are not involved.”

The number of suicides has gone down.

In 2025, there were 16 suicides compared to 21 in 2021, 19 in 2022, 17 in 2023 and 16 in 2024, St. Clair reported.

Homicides have also gone down with two in 2025 compared to six in 2021, five in 2022, four in 2023 and three in 2024.

The rate of deaths related to falls in residences increased, with 10 in 2025 compared to three in 2021, seven in 2022, nine in 2023 and two in 2024.

The rate of deaths have also increased for people with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) with 43 in 2025, compared to 38 in 2021, 25 in 2022, 30 in 2023 and 44 in 2024.

“These are involving people who do not have a physician of record and therefore the coroner’s office is mandated to get involved,” St. Clair said, adding that does not represent the total number in the county as there are a lot more people who die of that every year, but they are under a doctor’s care.

ASCVD can be caused by plaque buildup in arterial walls and is one of the leading causes of , according to the American Heart Association’s website. It can refer to coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral artery disease, aortic atherosclerotic disease and other conditions.

Deaths in fires have remained consistent with three in 2025 compared to two in 2021, three in 2022, three in 2023 and two in 2024.

There was only one drowning death in Wood County in 2025 compared to zero in 2021, three in 2022, zero in 2023 and five in 2024.

There were two ATV deaths in Wood County in 2025 compared to zero in 2021, one in 2022, zero in 2023 and one in 2024.

There were three tractor/farm related deaths in 2025 compared to two in 2024 and none from 2021 to 2023.

There was a single sudden unexpected infant death in 2025 compared to having none from 2021-2024.

There were 17 deaths that were caused by “other” means not covered in the listed categories, which could include someone not in compliance with their medications or a cancer patient traveling through the area without a local doctor. There were 36 in 2021, 22 in 2022, 24 in 2023 and nine in 2024.

The coroner recently moved to the new 911 Center from the former sheriff’s department building that was torn down recently and St. Clair has been pleased with the change. He credited the commission with being supportive of his office.

“We try to run it as lean and mean as we can,” St. Clair said. “The support we get from our county commission has been tremendous.”