Questionable Death

[Katt78]

My sister passed away in a hotel. She was found after family member insisted to the manager that something was wrong. LVCSI was in the room for 4 hours and found NO drugs or any thing relating to drugs. Now that the autopsy has come back they found heroin in my sisters system. How could you use that kind of drug and "clean" up after yourself if you Over dosed. I believe someone else was in the room and gave her the drug. That person has since had a heart attack at age 24. How do I get someone to look into her death? She wasn't perfect be wasn't a herion users, she drank alcohol.

[mobrien316]

I'm sorry for your loss.

It wouldn't be unheard of for a person to take a fatal amount of heroin and then go somewhere else and die. It sounds like that could have been what happened in this case.

If you want to throw money at a private investigator feel free. If the police investigated and didn't find anything that's a pretty good indication that there is nothing to find.

[retdetsgt]

As an old homicide detective, my experience is that people have a difficult time accepting how a close relative died. It's really hard to come to grips with certain ideas, using drugs is one.

There are a couple of things to consider in this case. One, alcohol causes people to make bad decisions all the time. Alcohol is a drug just like cocaine and heroin. If alcohol were discovered today, it's properties would make it a controlled II substance right along with cocaine and meth. It's not impossible that your sister could have decided to "try" heroin when she was drinking. Or if she wasn't drinking, she might have just wanted to try another drug, alcohol is probably the biggest "gateway drug" there is. And although it's quite possible someone was in the room with her, she was likely willing. Heroin is too expensive to waste by giving it to someone who doesn't want it. It's not a sex drug, in fact it tends to lessen the sex drive.

Secondly, I doubt a private investigator is going to find any proof either way. He may blow a lot of smoke to get more money, but what info can he find that the police didn't? Especially if the person you think was involved is dead? The is no magic way to uncover what was happening at the time of your sister's death. If the police couldn't find any evidence of a crime, I can't see how a PI is going to come up with anything. And it sounds like the police covered the scene thoroughly.

I'm very sorry for your loss. I lost my stepson when he was 21 years old in a traffic wreck. He had been drinking and wasn't wearing a seatbelt. Although he made horrible decisions, we loved him just as much and the loss was terrible, especially to my wife, his mother. He was a wonderful young man who got stupid one night. His friends came up with all sorts of conspiracy theories trying to blame an ex girl friend for the fact he left his house that night. Frankly, they were all plausible, but not very possible. And in the end, what difference did it really make? And what difference will it make for your sister.

Looking for someone to blame is pretty natural when you lose a loved one unexpectedly. I've seen this in my own family. It gives you something to focus on rather than just mourning the loss. For that reason, I doubt anything I'm writing or anyone else is going to write will make much difference.

I wish you peace.

[Swat1]

I will second RetDetSgt's comments. It it very difficult to deal with the loss of a loved one, especially when the circumstances of that loss are equally difficult to deal with. Like Ret said, it is very possible that someone was in the room with her when it happened, but unlikely that the death was intentional.

I hope you can find some peace.

[Katt78]

Thank you very much for your thoughts and advice. The 24 year old who had the heart attack survived. I'm sorry if I gave the impression he had passed. Everyone is correct this is difficult to accept but also didn't understand how CSI found no drugs if she had been using. Maybe I just never will. Thanks for your advice. K

[retdetsgt]

Thank you very much for your thoughts and advice. The 24 year old who had the heart attack survived. I'm sorry if I gave the impression he had passed. Everyone is correct this is difficult to accept but also didn't understand how CSI found no drugs if she had been using. Maybe I just never will. Thanks for your advice. K

That was my fault for jumping to the conclusion the person died from the heart attack. I should know better at my age......

It's probable that someone was with her when she OD'd and they got frightened and left the room with the drugs and paraphernalia. If you think about it, how many people are going to want to call the police and say they were doing heroin with someone who just overdosed? The natural reaction would be to flee or face possession of drugs charges. In reality, they wouldn't be held responsible for your sister's death though unless she was a child. It would still be viewed as an accidental death.

As I said earlier, people have trouble believing their loved one would do such a thing. But we all hold secrets we don't want others to know, some secrets are worse than others. If your sister had started doing heroin, it's likely that's not something she would want to share with her family.

My best advice is to grieve for the loss of your sister and let go of the circumstances. None of this makes her a bad person any more than my stepson was bad because of how he died. I'm thankful he died in a one car wreck and no one else was involved. But it was the result of a series of very bad decisions made one night. I miss him everyday, he was not only my stepson, but a good friend. The way he died in no way taints my memories of him. Remember the joys of having your sister and let the rest go. It'll give you more serenity and peace. Hate helps no one. Again, I hope you find peace.

[SnapShawt]

retdetsgt speaks from experience and has given you the best advice you'll get on this question. I can back him up on the fact that there are many times someone will be drinking, or partying and using another drug, and they'll try something new or maybe MORE of something they've been doing. Then they go somewhere else, and that's when they go downhill.

I'm very sorry for your loss and hope you find your way through the grief. It's a long process, but you have to allow yourself to let it happen.

[TX-LEO]

My sister passed away in a hotel. She was found after family member insisted to the manager that something was wrong. LVCSI was in the room for 4 hours and found NO drugs or any thing relating to drugs. Now that the autopsy has come back they found heroin in my sisters system. How could you use that kind of drug and "clean" up after yourself if you Over dosed. I believe someone else was in the room and gave her the drug. That person has since had a heart attack at age 24. How do I get someone to look into her death? She wasn't perfect be wasn't a herion users, she drank alcohol.

An autopsy will be completed and the cause of death will be determined. If the scene was processed and no evidence showed it was anything but an OD, then case closed.

Sometimes people have a hard time believing their loved one killed their own self with drug use, be it accidental, or otherwise.