Kids of Spirit Airlines Pilot and Wife Killed by Apparent Heroin Overdose Are Living with Relatives

Three weeks after the couple was found dead of a possible overdose, their children are trying to cope with their loss

Three weeks after Ohio couple Brian and Courtney Halye were found dead by their children in their Centerville home, authorities are still trying to determine what happened. The toxicology reports haven’t yet come back, but the coroner listed the preliminary cause of death as one that is “consistent with a heroin or fentanyl overdose.”

But as the family awaits answers, the couple’s four children are struggling to make sense of their sudden loss.

“They are with relatives,” Courtney’s friend, Monica Camacho, tells PEOPLE. “The family has a strong support system.”

But she says, “They’re not doing well. They’re very sad. This was a shock to them, and they’re surrounded by people who are helping them cope with this.”

Brian, 36, was a pilot for Spirit Airlines. He married Courtney, 34, in 2012. They each had two children from previous relationships — he, two daughters and she, a son and a daughter. The children ranged in age from 9 to 13.

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On March 16, the Halye’s children peeked into their parents’ bedroom after they failed to wake them up for school. After finding their unresponsive parents, the 13-year-old son called 911 and told the operator, “I just woke up and my two parents are on the floor.”

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“My sister said they’re not waking up,” the boy continued as the three sisters cried in the background. “They’re not breathing… They were very cold.”

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A police incident report from January 2016 alleged that Courtney — a Type 1 diabetic — had a history of drug use.

According to the report obtained by PEOPLE, Courtney’s mother, Nancy Case, had grown concerned after the two women had a phone conversation. Case contacted Centerville police and said that her daughter was suicidal and abusing narcotics.

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Brian had also contacted police around that time after returning from a flight from Detroit to find Courtney missing, the Dayton Daily News reported. According to the newspaper, she returned to their house later and locked him out. When he forced entry, he allegedly found her holding two unloaded guns, according to the newspaper.

Courtney was allegedly taken by medics to the hospital for treatment, The Dayton Daily News reported, after police said she appeared mentally unstable and possibly intoxicated or having a medical issue related to diabetes.

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As those close to the Halyes await their answers, they are keeping the children in their thoughts and prayers.

“At this point, the focus of everyone is on the kids,” says Camacho. “They are great kids; they don’t deserve this. Everyone’s heart just goes out to them.”

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