Six-Year-Old Girl Rescued By Police After Posting Picture On Social Media Of Father Dead From Drug Overdose
A 6-year-old girl was rescued by police after posting a picture of her dead father and unconscious stepmother on social media, prompting a worried family member from hundreds of miles away to contact police.
The incident took place in southeast Michigan, where police say the 6-year-old girl was trapped in the home with her dead father and incapacitated stepmother, WKYT reported. The girl was able to snap a picture of the pair and share it online, leading to a phone call from a worried family member in Tennessee that brought officers to the home.
Police say the young girl’s father died of a suspected drug overdose and believe that her stepmother suffered an overdose as well.
The story was reminiscent of another child caught up in a parent’s alleged drug addiction. In 2017, an 11-day-old girl died of a suspected meth overdose after somehow ingesting the drug. As the Edmonton Journal reported, police said the amount of the drug in the newborn baby’s body indicated that it was not an accidental overdose.
“The amount in the baby’s system could not have been transmitted through breast milk and is thought to have been transmitted orally or anally, said Edmonton police spokesman Scott Pattison,” the report noted.
Last year, police in Indiana arrested Curtis Collman II after he allegedly refused to call 911 after his 8-year-old son, Curtis Collman III, ate his father’s crystal meth. As CNN reported, the boy mistook the drugs for cereal and consumed an amount so large, it would have killed an adult man — nearly 180 times the amount considered lethal.
Police said Curtis Collman II realized his son was feeling ill and called a friend to come over and help, KCRA reported. As the boy’s condition quickly deteriorated, the father refused to call the police and prevented others from helping, even holding a friend at gunpoint when the friend tried to call 911.
6-year-old girl rescued from Michigan home after posting photos online of her dead father, unconscious mother following overdoses https://t.co/VNiDegHhgj
— KTLA (@KTLA) January 4, 2019
Authorities said the delay cost the boy his life and led him to suffer greatly in his final hours.
“An 8-year-old child more than likely suffered for many hours. It upsets you,” said Detective Tom Barker.
As CNN reported, the number of accidental overdoses among children has spiked in recent years as the heroin epidemic spreads across the country. In many of the cases, children mistook the drugs for candy and consumed it.
The 6-year-old Michigan girl who posted the picture of her dead father is now safe and living with her mother.
