“The Hills” star Audrina Patridge’s 15-year-old niece died from a drug overdose, according to TMZ.
Sadie died in February, but TMZ reports that authorities haven’t determined the exact manner of death yet because of an ongoing criminal investigation. A source told the outlet that Sadie allegedly used Snapchat to get the Percocet that was laced with a deadly dose of fentanyl.
Partridge shared the news of her niece’s death earlier this year on Instagram, writing, “My heart hurts to even write this. My beautiful niece is now in heaven. I know Its not goodbye forever, but it is the hardest to say goodbye for now. We will miss you and cherish every single moment we had with you. Rest in peace Say Say!! We love you forever & ever!”
Sadie’s mom, Casey Loza, also made appearances on “The Hills” and “The Hills: New Beginnings.” She hasn’t shared Sadie’s cause of death, but she wrote on Instagram that her daughter’s “story will save countless lives.”
Loza also took to social media nine days before her daughter’s death. Sadie had just turned 15, and she wrote,”Cant believe you’re 15. it feels like the years flew by and we still have so many more adventures to go on!”
The family has set up a GoFundMe in Sadie’s honor, with the money going to the Sadie Raine Foundation, established to help teens and their families.
Relatives of dozens of young people who have died from fentanyl poisoning after buying drugs on Snapchat are suing the popular messaging platform. Emily’s Hope founder Angela Kennecke has spoken with several of the families on the Grieving Out Loud podcast, including Tom and Bridgette Norring whose 19-year-old son died from buying what he thought was a Percocet through Snapchat, but it ended up being a deadly dose of fentanyl.
“I said you can’t die from taking a Percocet, but my other child said, ‘Yes, you can, Mom, if it has fentanyl in it.’ I remember turning to a law enforcement officer standing by the door and saying, ‘My son was murdered,’” Bridgette said.
“Something that I think is important to bring up is that these drugs are being delivered to your doorstep by kids who might look just like your kid. They might go to school with your kid. Just because your kid is at home doesn’t mean they’re safe. We thought Devin was at home. He’s safe. What a safer place for him to be on a Friday night. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case because of the way that Snapchat and drug dealers use the platform to bring drugs directly to your home now,” Tom said.
Oprah’s TV relationship expert, Dr. Laura Berman, is also suing Snapchat’s parent company after her 16-year-old son Sammy died from fentanyl poisoning. She claims that the system’s algorithms help connect young people, like her son Sammy, to drug dealers.
“They search good neighborhoods with rich kids through Snapchat, and they network among those kids and set up profiles that make them 16-year-olds,” Berman’s husband, Sam Chapman, told Emily’s Hope during a podcast episode of Grieving Out Loud.
Drug overdoses and fentanyl poisonings are at a record high in the United States, with more than 112,000 Americans dying within the last 12 month reporting period.