A California girl who vanished on Thursday and was found dead the following day allegedly did drugs before she abruptly left home and outside in freezing temperatures.
Ashley Bjorklund, 34, told The New York Post that her niece, Trinity Backus, 16, was acting strangely after taking acid with a friend who was also spending the night at her home in Nevada County. Backus was found deceased in a wooded half-mile from her aunt’s home — where she reportedly left only wearing pajamas and socks.
Bjorklund claimed she heard Backus yelling from outside. The teen reportedly vanished after Bjorklund asked Backus’ boyfriend to get her to come inside
“He came back in the house within, I don’t know, three minutes or so. And he said, ‘Ashley, I cannot find her,’” she recalled to the New York Post.
Bjorkland said she and Backus’ boyfriend searched the property for about 15 minutes before calling her mother.
She went on to tell the New York Post that they did not realize Backus had done drugs until the teen’s friend revealed it during police questioning.
“Hannah [the friend] told us they had taken two hits each of acid,” she said.
Bjorkland is skeptical about whether the acid caused Backus’ erratic behavior, as she claimed the friend said she and Backus used a bong after she went to sleep.
According to the aunt, Backus was not a regular drug user.
“We don’t even know if what she actually took was acid,” she told the New York Post. “There’s so much crap out on the streets these days.”
Bjorkland also revealed that Backus took off all her clothes before dying. The phenomenon— called paradoxical undressing — has been documented in research regarding hypothermia.
She told the New York Post, “Trinity wasn’t a druggie. Trinity was a child who decided to be an idiot and experiment and not freaking talk to us about it.”
Backus’ cause of death has not yet been disclosed. Police do not suspect foul play in her death.
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[Featured image: Trinity Backus/Nevada County Sheriff’s Office]
