Pubdate: Sun, 11 Jan 2009
Source: Summit Daily News (CO)
Copyright: 2009 Summit Daily News
Contact: http://apps.summitdaily.com/forms/letter/index.php
Website: http://www.summitdaily.com/home.php
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/587
Author: Carolyn Sackariason, Staff Writer

ASPEN AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATING POSSIBLE DATE-RAPE DRUGS

Two People On Same Night Go Missing And Lose Their Memories

ASPEN - Local authorities are investigating two possible incidents of
people being unknowingly drugged by what's known as a "roofie."

The separate incidents both occurred in late December, and the two
alleged victims have no recollection of what happened to them over
several hours.

One of the victims, Theresa Miller, ended up in police custody after
she crashed her car, fled the scene and was found about four hours
later hiding in a garage with severe frostbite to her hands as a
result of roaming around in sub-zero temperatures.

The other individual, who asked to remain anonymous, had been with
friends drinking, and the next thing he knew he woke up in a utility
closet at the Marolt Open Space about nine hours later.

"Both of these were life-threatening situations," said Pitkin County
Undersheriff Joe DiSalvo. "Both could have easily died."

Miller declined to comment about the circumstances of what happened to
her that frigid Friday night. She is being identified because she
faces charges of leaving the scene of an accident and failing to
report an accident.

Pitkin County Sheriff's Deputy Jesse Steindler provided details of the
incident, which began at 2:30 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 19. He responded to
a one-car accident on private property on Medicine Bow Road near Brush
Creek Village.

The homeowners, Rick Balentine and his wife, brought Miller into their
home to help her. While they were calling the authorities, Miller ran
out of the house, Steindler said.

That prompted an extensive search, which started with Steindler and
Balentine, who is a member of the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department, and
other firefighters who were called in.

Shortly after, Mountain Rescue arrived on scene to help comb the
mountainside off of Medicine Bow and Brush Creek Village.

"We really scoured that hillside," Steindler said, adding authorities
knocked on doors of residences in the area.

One of Miller's friends was instructed to remain at her residence,
which is located near where she crashed. The friend also was
continuously calling Miller's cell phone with the hopes that she would
answer or searchers would hear it.

Searchers eventually found fresh tracks and drops of blood, which led
up the hill in scrub oak and knee-deep snow. It was evident she had
been thrashing around in the snow, Steindler said.

"Her phone rang, and serendipitously, the searcher was standing
there," he said.

But there was no sign of Miller.

Between 15 and 20 searchers formed a line and combed the area, hoping
that her tracks would lead them to her.

Meanwhile, Steindler said he stood at the top of the hill, which had a
vantage point that allowed him to see Miller's residence about 100
yards away, as well as an out-building farther in the distance.

As he looked closer, Steindler said he noticed the door to a garage
was slightly open.

At about 6:50 a.m., Steindler entered the garage and found Miller
hiding behind a car. She was wearing high-heeled boots, blue jeans and
a white coat. She had no gloves on, and her fingers were cut up as a
result of thrashing around in the woods.

"She was so cold," Steindler said. "I was more concerned about her
safety at that point."

Steindler said Miller declined medical treatment and was taken to the
sheriff's department, where her friends brought her dry clothes. She
was charged with fleeing the scene and not reporting the accident.

"At that point she was lucid, coherent but upset and somewhat scared,"
Steindler said. "She was very apologetic, and she told me she didn't
remember anything."

Two days later, Miller brought cookies to the sheriff's office as a
thank-you, Steindler said.

Then about a week or so later, Miller appeared in the sheriff's office
again to take care of the summons she was issued. DiSalvo saw her with
her hands wrapped in bandages and talked to her about the incident.

"It wasn't until a few days later that it came to light what
happened," DiSalvo said. "I think there is a real possibility that she
was drugged."

Steindler estimates that Miller was outside in the snow for at least
90 minutes, judging from her tracks and searchers' observations. She
was found about a mile from where she wrecked the car.

"She came close to dying," he said.

Miller told authorities that she doesn't remember anything after about
1:30 a.m., when she drank a glass of water at the nightclub she was
at.

Friends told police that Miller had taken a bus to the Brush Creek
intercept lot, where her car was parked.

A similar incident occurred the same night in which a man was out with
friends, had a few drinks at a bar and then went to a Christmas party.
He said he doesn't remember anything after about 10 minutes of being
there.

He said he woke up the next morning at 7 a.m. with a broken nose,
lacerations to his face, bruises on his body and inside a utility
closet near the Marolt barn.

The man said he might have picked up a drink that wasn't his, or
someone slipped something into his when he wasn't watching. There had
been a city-wide blackout that night, and he was using a flashlight to
see.

"I was there for about 20 minutes, then we went to the party, and I
don't remember anything 10 minutes after that," he said, adding his
friends said he was "completely fine" and then "completely gone."

"I was falling over, couldn't really talk," he said, based on what his
friend told him. His roommate tried to walk him home, but the man
apparently went crazy and ran west on Main Street at about 10 p.m.

"I don't remember any of it," he said. "I woke up and I was so freaked
out ... I ran straight back to my apartment in a full sprint."

He reported the incident to police the next day.

The man said it was miraculous that he didn't suffer frostbite because
he had no hat, gloves or jacket on.

"That is why I was so concerned," he said of what could have
happened.

Neither Miller - who had a couple of drinks at a local bar - or the
man had been in the same places that night.

"I put the cases together and realized there was a connection,"
DiSalvo said. "Both people acted the same way.

"It scared these two people a lot."

DiSalvo said he has grown increasingly concerned that an individual or
individuals are slipping drugs into people's drinks in Aspen.

"Roofie" is a slang term for a flunitrazepam tablet, which also is
known as Rufinol. The drug is typically slipped into an unattended
cocktail without the victim knowing it. The drug's effects cause a
person to become confused, drowsy and lose their memory.

DiSalvo said by the time people report that they may have been
drugged, the drug is out of their systems. He added that he suspects
that there are many more people who don't report similar incidents
either because they thought they were just drunk or don't remember.

He noted another incident that occurred more than a year ago when a
woman was slipped a roofie and was sexually assaulted. The case is
still under investigation.

"This is a legitimate problem that is really worrying me," he said.
"We're trying our best to investigate."

DiSalvo asked that people be mindful of their cocktails - never leave
them unattended and don't accept drinks from strangers. He also asked
that bartenders be watchful of their patrons.
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr