Suspected drug OD victim recalled as 'super-nice guy'

Michael Rowe was said to have loved his two dogs. (Facebook photo)

ROCHESTER - The Rochester man who died last Wednesday in Dover of a suspected drug overdose was being remembered today as a nice guy who loved his dogs.

Anthony Ejarque of Rochester said he knew 42-year-old Michael Rowe as a close friend and fellow hockey player who he played with for several years on a men's league out of Rochester.

"I knew him socially and as a hockey player, he was a close friend," Ejarque said today. "He was a super-nice guy, very low key."

Ejarque said Rowe loved his dogs and had posted pictures of them on Facebook.

Rowe, who used to work at Granite State Grill and more recently at Windjammers in Rochester, had had some health issues in the recent past.

"I knew he'd been sick," added Ejarque, who said he'd probably known Rowe for about four or five years.

Rowe's Facebook page described him as being from New Durham and living in Farmington.

The Dover Police Department today identified Rowe as the victim in a suspected drug overdose death last Wednesday in Dover.

Rowe was found unresponsive and pronounced deceased around 9 p.m. after police responded to the area of Merry and Ridge streets in Dover.

Dover Police Lt. Brant Dolleman said last Thursday the body was found lying on the pavement in a parking lot by an individual or individuals who indicated in their 911 call there was a medical emergency. He also said there was no sign of violence connected with the incident.

While the cause and manner of Rowe' death will ultimately be determined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, based on the investigation to date it appears to be drug related, police said today.

If Rowe's death is found due to a drug overdose, it will be Dover's sixth this year, after 12 suspected drug related deaths in 2016. The Dover Police Department has responded to eight nonfatal drug overdoses so far this year.

This case is being investigated by the Dover Police Department's Special Investigations Bureau. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Dover Police Department at 603-742-4646. Anonymous tips may be called into the Dover Crimeline at 603-749-6000. The Dover Crimeline can also be contacted via www.dovernhcrimeline.org.