(La Porte County, IN) - The suicide rate is up substantially in La Porte County this year.

La Porte County Coroner Lynn Swanson said 28 people had taken their lives, so far, this year. There were 19 all of last year.

Swanson said she’s also seeing more older victims of suicide this year. It’s hard to identify precisely why suicides have gone up. Swanson, though, speculated it could be related to the pandemic from factors like job loss and staying home out of fear of contracting the virus.

It appears a majority of the suicides this year have been in the city of La Porte, according to Swanson.