Pubdate: Wed, 06 Mar 2002
Source: Chesterton Tribune (IN)
Website: http://chestertontribune.com/
Address: 193 S. Calumet, Chesterton, IN 46304
Contact:  2002 Chesterton Tribune
Author: Kevin Nevers
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

HEROIN FATALITY WAS FORMER CHS STUDENT

The man who died Saturday at Porter Memorial Hospital of a heroin 
overdose was a Jackson Township resident and former Chesterton High 
School student.

The mother of Shawn Rivera, 18, identified her son Tuesday at the PMH 
morgue, Cpl. Mike Grennes of the Valparaiso Police Department told 
the Chesterton Tribune late Tuesday.

The 2000 CHS yearbook, Singing Sands, lists Rivera as a junior. He 
does not appear in the 2001 yearbook.

The investigation into the circumstances of his death is continuing, 
Grennes added. At 5:08 a.m. Saturday two unknown white male subjects 
brought Rivera to PMH and advised staff that he had overdosed with 
several other unnamed people "in a truck" but that Rivera's 
associates had declined or were unable to transport him to the 
hospital. As Rivera was being brought into the hospital, the two 
subjects left the scene. Police say they were driving an older model 
gray four-door American type vehicle.

Bob Taylor, director of the Porter County Drug Task Force, said today 
that he knew Rivera. "He seemed like a good kid. He just got involved 
with heroin and he couldn't get off it."

Taylor estimated that between 250 and 300 heroin addicts currently 
reside in Porter County. A couple of years ago, Taylor noted, he knew 
the names of almost all of them. Now the network has grown too large 
and extensive to track precisely. "It's kind of like measles or small 
pox."

When heroin first started appearing in Porter County, Taylor said, 
its "hub" was Valparaiso. Eventually it spread to Portage and then 
Duneland. "Now we've got heroin addicts in basically every community, 
including Hebron and Kouts."

"Those who were addicted a year ago are more addicted now," he added. 
"But adults are also doing it. They're not just kids anymore. The 
families know about it but their hands are tied too. I mean, what can 
you do?"

Heroin is by no means the only drug of choice, though, and Taylor 
expressed concern as well about cocaine, metamphetamine, and Ecstasy. 
"It's like an endless battle."
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