Chief
12-21-2007, 05:10 AM
http://wweek.com/editorial/3406/10148/
For 14 years, Laurie Recht struggled with her daughter’s illness. At least, that’s what she wanted people to believe.
BY NANCY ROMMELMANN
[December 19th, 2007]
At 7 pm on Thursday, Oct. 11, Sarah Starr asked her husband to make a detour on their way to Borders—it was their sixth wedding anniversary, and she wanted books—so they could drive by the Vancouver, Wash., home of Laurie Recht and her 14-year-old daughter, Rebecca.
Starr was concerned about Rebecca and she had not heard from Laurie since Monday, highly unusual for a woman in the habit of calling five times a day.
Pulling in front of the small rental home in Fishers Landing, Starr could not tell whether Laurie’s Ford Taurus was in the garage. The lights were out inside the house; the shades were drawn. Starr rang the bell, knocked, called out. No answer. She asked a neighbor if he’d seen Laurie. Not since Monday, he said, trash day. Since she’d quit paying her garbage bill, he’d allowed Laurie to stow her trash with his for pick-up. But he had a key to Laurie’s house, and he let in Starr and her husband.
Inside, Starr could hear a television. Before she walked the steps to Laurie’s bedroom, before she felt the cold air from the room’s air conditioner, she sensed what she’d find. Laurie was on the bed, blood on her lips; beside her was Rebecca, so slight she barely made a dent beneath the covers, dried vomit around her mouth. Starr and the neighbor called 9-1-1. An EMT told Starr the condition of the bodies indicated the pair had been dead several days. Clark County Sheriff’s Department Detective Rick Buckner put the probable date of the deaths as Wednesday, Oct. 10. Starr says she knew, in her “heart, it happened Monday.”
Monday, Oct. 8, was supposed to be a banner day for Laurie and Rebecca. As in previous years, they were guests of honor at a concert by Peter Yarrow of the legendary folk trio Peter, Paul&Mary. Yarrow had come from New York to sing for Rebecca at Park Academy, the private school for the dyslexic she attended in Lake Oswego. Through a series of benefits, Yarrow raised part of Rebecca’s $14,000 annual tuition. As she had in the past, Rebecca joined Yarrow onstage, where they sang “Puff the Magic Dragon” as classmates cheered and The Lake Oswego Review took photos. Following the concert, Laurie drove Rebecca home and, at some point, gave her daughter a fatal overdose of prescription drugs and swallowed the same herself.
**SCHNIPP**
Heartbreaking story. I read this in WW last night, and this is the first definitive report I've seen about what might have happened. I'm sure there will be more infor forthcoming once the investigation is completed, but for now this will have to suffice...
For 14 years, Laurie Recht struggled with her daughter’s illness. At least, that’s what she wanted people to believe.
BY NANCY ROMMELMANN
[December 19th, 2007]
At 7 pm on Thursday, Oct. 11, Sarah Starr asked her husband to make a detour on their way to Borders—it was their sixth wedding anniversary, and she wanted books—so they could drive by the Vancouver, Wash., home of Laurie Recht and her 14-year-old daughter, Rebecca.
Starr was concerned about Rebecca and she had not heard from Laurie since Monday, highly unusual for a woman in the habit of calling five times a day.
Pulling in front of the small rental home in Fishers Landing, Starr could not tell whether Laurie’s Ford Taurus was in the garage. The lights were out inside the house; the shades were drawn. Starr rang the bell, knocked, called out. No answer. She asked a neighbor if he’d seen Laurie. Not since Monday, he said, trash day. Since she’d quit paying her garbage bill, he’d allowed Laurie to stow her trash with his for pick-up. But he had a key to Laurie’s house, and he let in Starr and her husband.
Inside, Starr could hear a television. Before she walked the steps to Laurie’s bedroom, before she felt the cold air from the room’s air conditioner, she sensed what she’d find. Laurie was on the bed, blood on her lips; beside her was Rebecca, so slight she barely made a dent beneath the covers, dried vomit around her mouth. Starr and the neighbor called 9-1-1. An EMT told Starr the condition of the bodies indicated the pair had been dead several days. Clark County Sheriff’s Department Detective Rick Buckner put the probable date of the deaths as Wednesday, Oct. 10. Starr says she knew, in her “heart, it happened Monday.”
Monday, Oct. 8, was supposed to be a banner day for Laurie and Rebecca. As in previous years, they were guests of honor at a concert by Peter Yarrow of the legendary folk trio Peter, Paul&Mary. Yarrow had come from New York to sing for Rebecca at Park Academy, the private school for the dyslexic she attended in Lake Oswego. Through a series of benefits, Yarrow raised part of Rebecca’s $14,000 annual tuition. As she had in the past, Rebecca joined Yarrow onstage, where they sang “Puff the Magic Dragon” as classmates cheered and The Lake Oswego Review took photos. Following the concert, Laurie drove Rebecca home and, at some point, gave her daughter a fatal overdose of prescription drugs and swallowed the same herself.
**SCHNIPP**
Heartbreaking story. I read this in WW last night, and this is the first definitive report I've seen about what might have happened. I'm sure there will be more infor forthcoming once the investigation is completed, but for now this will have to suffice...