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A child of God

Posted

To the Editor:

On July 10, 2020, Mark A. Williams of the Gasconade County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement on their Facebook page that the Narcotics Enforcement Group responded to a residence near Bland for an apparent drug overdose. And, a search of the residence revealed Marijuana, THC wax and Fentanyl. Scotty Joe Vowels’ body was released to the Gasconade County Coroner’s office.

As a mother who watched her son battle addiction for 10 plus years go from an intravenous drug addict to a “Child of God” on Sept. 30, 2018, I had a problem believing he was using any drug to get high, especially Fentanyl.

On July 16, 2020, I personally contacted the coroner and was told at this time no one knows the identity of the substance found in my son’s home. And, it could take up to six to eight weeks for the toxicology report to come back. I then spoke with the DEA agent that is handling the investigation and was told that there is no way to field test Fentanyl and they had no reason to swab his nose that the substance was on his top lip.

He could not for certain say what it was and he himself was waiting on the toxicology report. This phone conversation was recorded and I have it in my possession.

My son had sustained a serious injury to his shoulder and after three emergency room visits was denied pain medication because he was honest about his past addictions. The last conversation my son and I had on Friday, July 10, was that he was going out of the box and getting something guaranteed to work for his pain and assured me he wasn’t taking it to get high but to get some relief from the pain which was causing him to only sleep two to three hours a night for seven weeks.

I told him to be careful and not drink while taking pain meds. He promised he wouldn’t and said, “I love you Momma,” which is the very same thing he said in a live Facebook video where he was telling his Mid Mo Outlaws how very proud he was of them for taking the mandated drug test and passing.

I played this at his celebration of life and if anyone is interested in watching it please feel free to PM me on Facebook and I will be more than happy to share the link with you and his testimony, too, which begins with my son Scotty Joe Vowels openly admitting he was an addict and ends with his confession of faith, “I am a child of God!”

God bless you all, Theresa Rhoads