Centerville, Ohio: March 2017
Four children, ages 9-13 years old, get up for school and find the bodies of their parents, Brian and Courtney Halye, dead from heroin-fentanyl overdose. The three younger children sob in fear and confusion while the 13-year-old answers questions on the phone with a 911 dispatcher until police arrive.
McKeesport, Pennsylvania: October 2016
A bus driver alerts police after a 7-year-old girl tells her on the ride home from school that she’s been unable to wake her parents for more than a day. Police discover that the parents of the girl and her three younger siblings died of a heroin-fentanyl overdose during the weekend. Thinking her parents asleep, the girl cared for her siblings and then followed her normal routine, heading out to school Monday morning.
Both of these stories are true. There are thousands more true stories just like these from just the last few years. The opioid epidemic has spread across the nation, picking up steam as it charges across socioeconomic lines, racial lines, state lines and leaving thousands of children traumatized – the innocent victims of their parents’ addictions. While 2016 statistics are not available yet at the time of this post, the numbers from 2015 are frightening. The deadliest year on record for fatal drug overdoses in the United States, 2015 reached 52,404 confirmed fatal overdose deaths – of which at least 80% were from opioids.
This epidemic of addiction has reached into every community. Foster care and child protection systems are overwhelmed by the record numbers of children who have lost one or both parents, or have been removed from parental custody because of drug abuse. Record numbers of children are being raised by grandparents and other relatives. With more and more synthetic opioid concoctions hitting the streets, this epidemic is far from over. The children of addicts suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety – too many of them having witnessed drug abuse, overdoses and discovering loved ones lost.
If you suspect your child is in danger because of your ex’s drug use, call a private investigator to get the help and proof you need to spare them from the trauma so many children have experienced.
Private investigator, Matt Hooper of Bulldog PI has more than 20 years experience in law enforcement and private investigations. Ten of those years were spent undercover while conducting investigations for local, state and federal agencies on several types of crime, including drug-related crime. His deep experience working undercover in a drug enforcement capacity has given him unique insight into the opioid crisis in our country and our community. He cares about protecting your child from becoming another innocent victim.
