Landslide

Today, was a hard day, it’s the day I gave birth to my daughter, and she’s not here to celebrate. And, I want justice, I thought the song linked below explained my emotions but what I really wanted to convey is what I posted and said five years ago, and here it is.

Twenty (…Fifteen) years ago I learned from a stranger’s voice at a hospital emergency room on the west coast where my daughter was attending college, she was dead-on-arrival at their hospital from GHB poisoning. The men, a local hip-hop singer (Abstract Rude), and his band members (in ‘99), who brought my daughter to the hospital admitted in sworn statements to the police she had been at their music studio (Ocean Floor Studio), forty to fifty (40-50) minutes when she fell to the floor convulsing and went into a coma. Abstract, his manager and band members, despite attempting to give CPR and quitting, decided not to call 911, or seek medical attention.

What’s always been confusing is the homicide division didn’t immediately react to the red herring in Abstract and the band’s statements i.e., Skylar was at their studio 40 to 50 minutes before showing any symptoms of distress, which indicates she did, in fact, ingest the GHB at the music studio, despite Abstract and his band members’ denial that they were the source of the GHB, or had anything to do with the homicide. Their statements were flawed with suspicious impossibilities. Abstract denied he was in a relationship with Skylar, and denied his involvement with her professionally but, e.g., she had designed the covers for his CDs (http://www.musicstack.com/discography/abstract+tribe+unique/mood+pieces/r722941.) Neither the police nor the homicide division of San Francisco followed up on the issues, and they never brought in Abstract or his band entourage for questioning beyond their initial statements they provided to the police who were dispatched to the hospital. The facts surrounding our beloved, Skylar demise and the GHB poisoning were never made clear to the public (http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Concern-Over-Rise-In-Blue-Nitro-Use-6-in-S-F-2912000.php.)

Abstract and his band entourage walked away–free men, unaccountable for their predatory acts and it is clear from Skylar’s friends who she had been with all evening prior to her leaving for the music studio to meet up with Abstract in the predawn hours of Easter Sunday ‘99, she was clear and radiant, and fully cognizant. It’s unknown why a young vibrant young women with an amazing life would knowingly take a massive dose of a date-rape-drug/GHB, which remained in her system, postmortem, even though GHB metabolizes from the blood and tissue very rapidly. Her toxicology report indicated GHB was the only drug in her system although there was a trace of alcohol.
Skylar’s life ended senselessly, but momentously, and her absence has left an indelible stain on our hearts. My hope has been that someone would come forward who was at the Ocean Floor Studio that night, or a retired sleuth might take up the cold case, and reopen an investigation to look at the evidence with a mind to solve the homicide because those who predatorily took Skylar’s life using GHB, they need to answer. There are many facts known today about GHB activation rate, and by Abstract and the band members’ own admission (in their statements), Skylar didn’t show symptoms until 40 to 50 minutes after she arrived at the music studio to meet up with Abstract,  who had called and asked her to come get him. She was never seen alive again, after entering the Ocean Floor Studio. Her drink was spiked with a fatal dose of GHB, and the predators aren’t turning themselves in.

What we now know (http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/research/job185drugs/gamma-hydroxybutyrate.htm), as fact, is GHB reacts in the body within 15 to 20 minutes minutes of ingestion depending on stomach content. And, if you are drinking alcohol it has a synergistic effect (speeding) on the depressing the central nervous system. GHB is made from industrial solvent purchased at the hardware store and can be manufactured in one’s kitchen sink.

BUT, despite all we know about GHB ((http://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/amendment-process/public-hearings-and-meetings/20040317-19/Avergun-DOJ.pdf), it’s proliferation (http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/02/27/2-investigators-date-rape-drug-becoming-favorite-for-recreational-use/) has moved from the kitchen sink operations of the 90’s to worldwide clandestine manufacturers (http://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/californians-overdose-leads-arrest-phoenix-and-seizure-1100-gallons-illegal) around the planet, especially China, who manufacture GHB in 55-gallon drums and is marketed over the internet by black market dealers.

GHB IS A THREAT TO SOCIETY and the more awake and conscious and aware we become of predators armed with GHB in our midst the more likely we can destroy the market for this threatening drug. Who do you think is predominately the victim of GHB and date rape drug poisonings? WOMEN. Be a beacon for GHB awareness and watch out for vulnerability in women in your proximity. If you see someone putting something in someone’s drink, speak up…WARN the potential victim. Align with your sisters.

In honor of my daughter, Skylar Lynn, I have documented the facts as I know them (stated above) in a fictionalized story, “A Forever Story,” available on Amazon or Barnes and Nobel.

Please be conscious of your surroundings, and be discerning about people you might regard as your friends, and, most importantly, stay aware of your open drinks…NEVER leave your drink unattended. “Spread the good word in honor of Skylar Ringland, a shining star of our underground family who lost her life recently due to her involuntary ingestion of GHB,” (http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sfmetro/05.10.99/groundscore.html)..

To anyone who seeks to donate to the Skylar Lynn Ringland Foundation and the investigation into her senseless death, please contact Cathleen (Cat) Lynn Boyle at catboyl30@gmail.com.