...and immediately passed out again and rolled forward. Very plausible and doesn't mean she was an alcoholic. Out partying to celebrate.

I'm not seeing anything suspicious either...just very sad. Maybe she was out celebrating and got home at a normL 2/3am time, parked in her garage and then passed out at the wheel. Then when her phone alarm went off in the AM, she was jolted awake and started backing out

how is it possibly suspicious, and who are you suspicious of? she was drunk, accidentally drove into the bench, passed out, and then the car caught fire. a tragedy.

There were 2 reports - one that she was going in to the office early, one that she was headed to the airport.

Too bad it wasn't in a cab.

I would imagine that any reports of her drinking the night before would be supressed out of respect for the family and fear of liability.

Her brother was just in a tragic accident as well.

But wasnt she leaving early to catch a flight to North Carolina because of te deal? Again very suspicious. DC police are so incompetent that we'll never get to the bottom of this.

Anonymous wrote:Jay Newton-Smith, the writer at Time Magazine, posted on twitter the day after Ashley's death that they had been out the night before in Old Town. Maybe Ashley Turton was just getting home??

So odd and so sad....

I remember a piece JNS wrote for Time, she mentioned her having dinner with her and other friends in Old Town the night before she died. It didn't sound like a work event although there can always be an overlap in this town. Arriving home from Old Town at 4:50 am sounds implausible, perhaps she had gone to a friend's? Sounds more likely that they were up drinking late than that she started drinking at 4:30 am.

I saw a picture of the SUV at a weird angle and a gold sedan, Toyota maybe, parked in the driveway, wonder if she was trying to manuver around it.

Maybe she had a problem, maybe a night of poor judgment. Horrible crazy accident.

So sad for her kids. Hope they have a great nanny and lots of family who can step in, they are all so little.

Anonymous wrote:Is there any other substance (like Ambien, robitussin, etc) that shows up on a medical report as similar to alcohol?

The test detects ethanol. Some liquid cold medicines and mouthwash have it, but not enough to show high levels in an adult. A small child could get acute intoxication from drinking (not rinsing) an entire bottle of mouthwash.

Is there any other substance (like Ambien, robitussin, etc) that shows up on a medical report as similar to alcohol?

Maybe she came home drunk, got into a fight with DH and tried to get away kinda like Tiger Woods and Elin.

I must say I am shocked, but it explains the main question I had about the accident - why she didn't get out of the car when the fire started. Now we know she was either passed out or simply too confused/slow to react properly b/c of acute intoxication. I also remember thinking it was odd that several of the "fond memories" of her that were reported in the papers involved drinking alcohol. For example the story where she and a male colleague asked the waiter to bring their wine in coffee mugs so they could drink at lunch without attracting too much attention. So sad that it seems that no one saw or chose to deal with the fact that she had an (apparent) problem with alcohol.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's so sad. I wonder if she'd had a bottle of wine between, say, 10 and whenever she went to bed, would that leave her intoxicated? I hate to admit it, but I've done as much after a rough day!

A glass of wine, maybe two, after a rough day but a whole bottle of wine. You have a problem with alcohol.

The report said acute alcohol intoxication contributed to her death. That's code for alcohol poisoning, certainly more than a bottle of wine. Who knows what happened but it's all very sad.

Yes, acute alcohol poisoning would mean drinking SEVERAL bottles of wine. It's a serious medical condition. People who drink this much can die, even if they are not driving.

Jay Newton-Smith, the writer at Time Magazine, posted on twitter the day after Ashley's death that they had been out the night before in Old Town. Maybe Ashley Turton was just getting home??

So odd and so sad....

Did they say what her BAC was? In the range of 0.4 or so, you're lucky to be conscious. 0.2 or so, I can see her being so sloppy drunk she fails at opening the door.

But wow, at 5am.

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine any mom of young kids, heading out to a business trip that early in the morning, would have gotten wasted to the point that she was acutely intoxicated hours later.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

I can't imagine it, either. But what if the assumption was wrong?

They just did the huge deal to sell Progress Energy. Suppose she was out all night celebrating, she drove home drunk at 5 AM and pulled INTO the garage?

Or perhaps she partied all night, woke up the next morning, and tried to drive to work thinking she was hungover, when she was really still drunk?

Maybe she'd been celebrating the night before?