Salida, CO- On the afternoon of 01/26/2026, Salida Police Officers, Salida Fire, and Chaffee EMS were dispatched to a local motel for an unresponsive male. Upon arrival, lifesaving measures were attempted, but the 42-year-old male was declared to be deceased. Through the investigation, it was learned that a female was with the male in the motel room at the time of his death. Based on what was learned at that point in the investigation, it was suspected that the man may have died because of a drug overdose. The deceased male was subsequently identified as Lukas Brown (42), and the female was identified as Vanessa Salvio (39). Both individuals were from Monte Vista, Colorado.
Salvio agreed to go to the Salida Police Department, where she agreed to speak with a detective about the incident. In the interview, Salvio subsequently admitted to providing Fentanyl to Lukas Brown. Salvio told the detective that she not only provided the Fentanyl, but she also administered the Fentanyl into Lukas Brown by blowing it into his mouth from her mouth. Salvio told the detective that shortly after she gave the Fentanyl to Lukas Brown, he began to have a medical episode. Salvio notified motel personnel, and the motel personnel called the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Communication Center for medical assistance for Lukas Brown. Lukas Brown died shortly after.
An autopsy through the El Paso County Coroner’s Office in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was conducted on Lukas Brown. It was determined through the autopsy and the toxicology that Lukas Brown’s death was a result of Acute Fentanyl and Xylazine Toxicity.
After Salvio was interviewed and the scene in the motel was cleared, she was allowed to go back to the motel room to retrieve her belongings. Salvio was then taken to another motel, and a room was provided for her for the night. The next day, the family of Lukas Brown went to the motel where he had died to retrieve his property. The family discovered that some property that belonged to Lukas Brown was missing. Salvio was subsequently interviewed about the missing property and admitted that she stole the property when she returned to the room to retrieve her property on the night of 01/26/2026. Salvio returned the stolen property to the authorities.
On 05/27/2026, after consulting with the 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, a Salida Police Detective submitted an arrest warrant/affidavit to the Chaffee County District Court. In the arrest warrant, the detective asked that Vanessa Salvio be charged with One Count of C.R.S. 18-3-105 Criminally Negligent Homicide, a Class 5 Felony, and One Count of C.R.S. 18-4-401 Theft, a Class 1 Misdemeanor. The warrant was reviewed and signed by a Chaffee County District Judge. The judge set bond on the arrest warrant at $2,000.00 cash/surety.
On the evening of 05/27/2026, Vanessa Salvio was taken into custody on her arrest warrant at her home in Monte Vista, Colorado, and transported to the Rio Grande County Detention Center in Del Norte, Colorado.