"I think it was her first cry for help:' Baraboo mother speaks out on Kodie Dutcher's suicide
Aug 10, 2020
"I think it was her first cry for help," Brandy Bielicki tells 27 News, in her first interview since her daughter's body was found July 7.
Authorities and dozens of volunteers searched for Dutcher after Bielicki returned home from a
nursing shift July 6 and found the girl gone, even though the two had plans to join other family members for a camping trip in Minocqua.
Bielicki says during a search of her
apartment with a responding Baraboo Police officer, a
note was found.
"I did find a note that said, 'Mom, I love you, but I can't do this,'" Bielicki tells 27 News.
"I'll tell you...my daughter did not intend to commit suicide," Bielicki tells 27 News. "She made a mistake in the moment and was afraid."
Bielicki says Kodie took $50 and some food when she left home.
Authorities call the 10-year-old's death a "pharmalogical suicide." Bielicki believes her daughter
ingested some of the prescription medication in the home and it affected her decision-making, with Dutcher leaving with only socks on.
Bielicki tells 27 News she and her daughter had a
video chat just 90 minutes before she discovered her missing. She says Kodie was upbeat and humorous about the coming camping trip and betrayed no signs of depression or desperation, consistent with the girl's demeanor in the past. "There was never a terrible drawing, there was never, 'I hate my life,' " Bielicki tells 27 News.
ETA: Was there ever any surveillance video of KD after she left the apartment?