Trotwood-Madison vs. Winton Woods
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2009-10 UD men's basketball
Pyramid Hill lights up
DAY 1 OF A 2-DAY SERIES
Heroin hits home
Sunday, February 08, 2009
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Mary Anne Barr, director of marketing and recruitment at Urbana University, visits the West Liberty grave site of her daughter, Madison, who died of a heroin overdose at 19.
Madison Barr, graduated from Urbana High School and was a student at Ohio University when she died of a heroin overdose. 
A needle and spoon that a user would use to prepare heroin for injection is seen in a display at the Montgomery County Crime Lab. Heroin, once thought to be disappearing from the local drug scene, is back with a vengeance, fueled by a new generation of users seduced by its euphoric high and initial door-busting price.
And, in alarming numbers, they are dying.
Heroin has made a comeback, and not just in the underbelly of cities where hard-core addicts can always be found.
It is showing up in places where you'd least expect to find it.
"We are seeing younger people, averaging 16 to 25 years of age, using and selling heroin," said Nick Selvaggio, prosecutor in rural Champaign County.
The profile of the heroin user in America isn't the only change. The heroin being sold on the streets today is stronger, more addictive and more lethal.
Put simply, heroin can kill.
• Ohio University junior Madison Anne Barr of Urbana: Spent a summer studying in Ecuador and volunteering at an orphanage. She hoped to work in a U.S. embassy after graduation. Dead at 19.
• Zachary Fitzmaurice of Beavercreek: B-plus student in his early years at Dayton Christian schools before moving to Beavercreek, he was an artist. Now dead at 23.
• Christopher Theil: First-year student studying music management at Hocking College in Nelsonville. Played guitar, keyboards and cello. His girlfriend, Kelly Armbruster, an Ohio University senior, was majoring in management and strategic leadership. Both died May 3 after shooting heroin in the bathroom of Riverpark Towers Apartment No. 408 in Athens.
Theil's mother, visiting OU for Moms Weekend, discovered the bodies, finding her son bent over Armbruster as if giving her a kiss.
"It's a frightening trend. It's frightening because it's impacting young people with promising futures," said Robert Carlson, an investigator for the Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network. "It's frightening because it shows no indication of going away anytime soon."
