On a quiet Tuesday morning in the sleepy village of Dundee, Michigan, a neighbor stepped into the familiar home of Cameron and Courtney Hulet. The front door was ajar — no surprise there. The couple was known for leaving it open.
But it was when the neighbor saw what was inside that everything took a chilling turn — marking the beginning of a mysterious story that baffled the police.
It was the kind of scene that might’ve seemed entirely ordinary in a quiet neighborhood — at least, on the surface.
It was a Tuesday morning in 2016, in the sleepy village of Dundee, Michigan, when one neighbor happened to glance into the home of Cameron and Courtney Hulet, a young couple who had recently moved to the area.
What she saw inside wasn’t alarming at first, but as she took in the strange stillness of the scene, something didn’t quite sit right.
The front door was wide open, just as it always seemed to be. In Dundee, a small town with a population barely pushing 5,000, everyone knew everyone, and nothing ever really seemed out of place.
But that would soon change.
What was once a quiet, close-knit community would become the center of a media frenzy.
When the neighbor stepped inside the Hulet home that morning, she was met with an unexpected and unsettling sight.
Heard soft moans
Cameron, 28, and Courtney, 20, lay motionless on the floor, side by side, in a scene that would leave everyone questioning how, and why, this young couple had ended up in such a tragic, unexplained state.
She also heard soft moans.
Figuring they’d simply passed out or were still asleep, the neighbor gently closed the door and went on with her day. Hours passed. Still no sign of movement from the house. Something felt off.
That night, the neighbor returned. Nothing had changed. The couple hadn’t moved an inch.
Nearby, bags of Taco Bell and untouched drinks still sat on a table, exactly where they had been that morning. It was as if they were just about to dig into their Taco Bell when something sudden and deadly struck, causing them to collapse and die right there on the spot.
Now truly alarmed, the woman had a male friend come by to check on them. He called police.
Authorities arrived just before midnight. By then, it was already too late.
“They were probably dead for at least 12 hours,” said David Uhl, Dundee’s village manager, to The Washington Post. “When the neighbor first saw them that morning, they were either already gone or very close to it.”
The scene didn’t make sense. There were no signs of a struggle, no evidence of violence, and — most confusing of all — no clear indication of what had caused their deaths. Their bodies showed no obvious trauma. The leading theory? A possible drug-related incident. But nothing obvious pointed to an overdose.
“It’s very suspicious. It’s really weird,” Uhl said. “You’d think you’d find something—pill bottles, needles, something. And there’s nothing.”
Toxicology reports, he added, could take two weeks. Meanwhile, investigators were left puzzled, with only a few loose threads to follow.
In the kitchen, police found about a pound of marijuana. Uhl said the drugs appeared to be portioned out for sale, though it’s unclear whether that had any connection to the couple’s deaths.
Cameron Hulet, 28, and his wife Courtney, 20, had recently moved to Dundee from Newport, Michigan. Police had been called to their apartment multiple times after neighbors reported loud arguments. Two young children — just one year and four months old — had been living with them, but were placed in foster care before the fatal incident.
“It was devastating to them,” Cameron’s mother, Cheryl Harris, told People. “They called me bawling their eyes out.”
Despite the fact that Cameron and Courtney were both “deeply depressed,” Harris said she struggled to believe they would have taken their own lives.
Cameron, who loved being outside, fishing and sports, was known to local authorities and had previously been arrested on drug-related charges. According to his family, he’d been working two jobs, trying to support his family and hold things together.
“I am beyond saddened by the loss of you,” Cameron’s twin brother Garrett wrote on Facebook. “You mean so much to me and I am devastated. I can’t stop seeing your face.”
Described as a devoted father
On a GoFundMe page launched to help cover funeral costs, Garrett described his brother as a devoted father and son who leaves behind “a devastated mother and father, his twin brother, two older brothers, three step siblings, and two young children.”
“This is all still hard to comprehend,” he wrote. “It was so sudden and tragic.”
Courtney’s death was more of a mystery to investigators. But after months of searching, the mystery behind the deaths of Cameron and Courtney Hulet began to unfold.
After investigators received the autopsy report and examined the findings from medical examiners, the cause of death for both was confirmed. Two months after the couple’s passing, the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office revealed that their deaths were the result of Xanax and methadone toxicity.
Dundee Police Chief Todd Opperman remarked that this was the first case he had encountered where two people died from an overdose of pills simultaneously.
”It is unusual circumstances,” he said. ”We don’t see that all the time.”
Initially, when police discovered a pound of marijuana on the kitchen table, investigators wondered if fentanyl had played a role in the deaths. Fentanyl, a potent pain medication used for cancer patients, can sometimes be sprayed on marijuana and smoked. However, that did not seem to be the case here.
Toxicology reports showed that the couple had both Xanax and methadone in their systems. Methadone is an opioid often used to treat heroin addiction and chronic pain, while Xanax is prescribed for anxiety or depression, but it can be habit-forming.
The combination of both Xanax and methadone led to the fatal overdose.
“They both took it apparently at the same time,” Chief Opperman said. “The effects apparently took place at the same time.”
The investigation continued for some time, but it appears that the person who sold the pills to the couple was never identified. Although there was speculation that criminal charges could eventually be filed, Chief Opperman emphasized that it did not appear to be a case of intentional overdose.
“It appears to be accidental,” he said.
The tragic deaths of Cameron and Courtney Hulet left a community in shock and sorrow, raising countless questions that, while somewhat answered, still leave an air of mystery.
Two young lives, full of potential and promise, were cut short by a deadly combination of pills, leaving behind not only a grieving family but also a town struggling to make sense of what happened.
In the wake of their passing, we are reminded of how fragile life can be and how quickly it can be lost. Cameron, just 28, and Courtney, only 20, had their whole lives ahead of them. Yet in the blink of an eye, their story came to an end, leaving only memories of the laughter and love they once shared.
Cameron left behind a devastated mother and father, his twin brother, two older brothers, three step sibling and two young children.
Though their lives were brief, Cameron and Courtney will be remembered by those who loved them.
