Gas leak kills wife who was trying to find her dying husband, Texas police say

A husband and wife died Friday night after being exposed to hydrogen sulfide, Texas police say. The couple’s two children were also exposed to the poisonous gas.

Jacob Dean, who had just turned 44, was an employee of Aghorn Energy when he was called to a pump house located at 2216 W. 49th in Ector County. Police said that from information they gathered, “Jacob’s wife started calling him when he had not returned in a timely manner.”

Natalee Dean, 37, knew where Jacob was working Sgt. Gary Duesler said, so she decided to go out to the pump house to check on him.

Natalee took her 9-year-old and 6-year-old children in the car with her to check on Jacob, according to police.

“Investigation indicates that she arrived on location, exited the vehicle, left the kids in the car and walked up to the pump house and was overtaken with the H2S gas exposure,” Duesler said in a statement via the Ector County Sheriff’s Department Facebook page.

A supervisor with Aghorn Energy had not heard back from Jacob and decided to call law enforcement to have officers check the location.

Upon arrival, sheriff deputies and emergency medical services discovered the presence of H2S, police reported.

Although the children were inside of the car, both were exposed slightly to the gas and were removed from the scene by EMS, decontaminated and transported to the hospital for further treatment, police said.

The children were released to their grandparents, and the investigation is ongoing.