The cause of death of a woman found dead in Valley West four months ago — initially believed to be a homicide — has been officially determined to be an overdose.

A report from a criminal pathologist informed the Arcata Police Department Friday that Carrie Crook, a 48-year-old and longtime resident of Humboldt County, died of fentanyl and meth toxicity.

Crook was found dead in an improvised structure by a fellow resident of an encampment, located on a vacant lot on Valley East Blvd. on Oct. 17, 2025.

The death of Crook sparked rumors and concern for weeks in the tight-knit encampment she lived in.

Witness statements and physical evidence leaned at first toward strangulation, said APD Lieutenant Luke Scown, leading to the arrest of a new-to-town man that lived nearby in the encampment.

But evidence found over the course of the investigation began to lean toward an overdose, a finding reflected by recent official toxicological results. 

Scown said she was found with a mark on her neck. The people reporting her death said she looked like she’d been strangled.

Witnesses in the area, who knew her, told police she had been in an argument with a boyfriend the day before and he had put her hands around her throat.

A deputy coroner on scene initially deemed she appeared to be strangled.

“Based on the evidence that we were seeing there at the scene, along with some witness statements we were getting, it seemed reasonable she was strangled,” said Scown.

Rhett Walker, an unhoused man who recently moved to the area and was reportedly romantically interested in Crook, was subsequently arrested and booked on suspected murder charges.

He denied strangling Crook, and gave some seemingly contradictory statements to police, Scown said.

But new information turned the initial impression of homicide on its head as APD continued the investigation.

“Ultimately, we were able to corroborate Rhett’s story,” said Scown.

APD confirmed through surveillance footage and witnesses that Walker was in downtown Arcata from when Crook was last seen alive to when the report was called in.

Due to this additional information, probable cause no longer existed, and he was released without charges. At this point, “we determined he was not a suspect,” said Scown.

And other evidence reflected the death wasn’t what it initially seemed.

Following an examination by a criminal pathologist, the pathologist told APD they did not believe it was strangulation and the mark on her neck was from something she was resting against when she died.

“It was not from strangulation. The pattern and the way the mark was was not consistent with strangling someone,” said Scown. APD was informed the pathologist believed she died of natural causes or an overdose.

And last Friday, the final report by the pathologist found she died of fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity. APD is no longer investigating the death as suspicious.

“We’re treating this as an overdose and investigating it in that manner moving forward,” said Scown.

Scown acknowledged people are likely curious why the man was arrested in the first place.

“While it is unfortunate, this is how the system is supposed to work,” he said.

He said it’s better than the alternative: letting a guilty person go because police weren’t entirely sure.

He said the department made the right choice at the moment, with the information they had.

“We were well beyond probable cause. Then, we had information that changed that,” he said.

Since her death, rumors of the circumstances surrounding it have swirled in Valley West. And scant information about a possible killer sparked fear in the community.

Crook was beloved in the community, according to Jan Carr, who feeds unhoused people in the neighborhood. She noted overdoses happen periodically in Valley West.

“This one was particularly hard. And I think it was who Carrie was,” she said.

A GoFundMe to support her children said Crook has five boys, and described her as “one of the kindest, most compassionate souls you could ever meet.” A packed celebration of her life was held in McKinleyville Nov. 23, according to the GoFundMe page.

“She’s terribly missed. She was a delightful woman. I mean delightful. I never, ever saw her without a smile,” said Carr.