It's mind-boggling that this case is still so unresolved and it seems impossible to find any real answers as to what happened.
My best guess is that she was feeling stressed for some reason, she was in pain (I think the tooth absess may be a clue here, or maybe she was feeling the symptoms of an oncoming stroke- caused by the absess + stress?- but was too scared and proud to say anything).. and because the 'perfect mom in control of everything' facade had to be kept up, she wasn't showing the strain or telling anyone.. kept everything inside.. (which compounded the stress level, in itself).. so she popped a pill that morning, thinking it was a pain med but it was an ambien. And she thought, 'OK, I'm good to go.'
Then (after they left) she was feeling even more weird and desperate and started swigging vodka.. (this suggests a mental breaking point as it was not something a responsible mom driving with kids would do).. and perhaps a stroke or something LIKE a stroke happened, at the same time... (but the autopsy reports did not pick that up..? Well- living people have strokes or stroke-like events that are not detected by tests, all the time! How do you explain that? Also there are things such as an ocular migraine- that can come on suddenly & affect your vision but they eventually go away and are undetectable).
So perhaps it was a perfect storm of events, the wrong pill which turned out to be ambien, which hit her suddenly w/o warning, just AFTER the stops at McD and the convenience store (since she appeared normal at that point).. and at that point she started drinking more because by then her judgement was way off, and to stop the pain... and that was the slippery slope she couldn't recover from. For some people, once they start drinking, something happens and they fall into a rabbit hole. They can't stop. And all that on top of a serious medical emergency.
So my theory that more than ONE thing happened at the same time.. and it all happened very quickly.
The only real clues here we have to go on are the fact that she said her head hurt & she couldn't see. I think those are important.
The fact that she seemed to be driving in a straight line on 'autopilot' with a determined look on her face, not swerving like a drunk person, points to the ambien 'zombie' effect. Or at least, a sudden alcohol blackout. (Plus she probably really believed she was simply driving in the right hand lane and therefore driving straight and was in a hurry to get home).
I just don't believe she decided all of a sudden to start binge drinking, out of the blue, for no reason. Something was causing her pain, something mentally &/or physically was wrong with her head. Something affected her judgement that made her take a few swigs to self-medicate and it got out of control. I think several things hit her at once.. a sudden medical issue, a pill that was too strong, the booze, and then panic & disorientation.
And I think her reaction (or what little we know) points to the fact that she was NOT a seasoned drinker who'd been hiding it. I think, on the contrary.. she was NOT used to large amounts of booze, and that's exactly why it all hit her so fast and hard, so suddenly.
I realize the autopsy showed nothing but booze & pot in her system and the 2nd one confirmed that.. but sometimes tests are wrong or can't detect things. There must be some explanation but when you look at all the facts (as few & perplexing as they are).. everything points to the fact that, unfortunately, the autopsy results MUST be missing something. Either a pain-causing medical event, the pills, or both.
The other other plausible explanation is that she was just stressed from being 'perfect mom', and having to get home on time, started to crack, and started to drink & it quickly spiraled out of control (as she wasn't the type of seasoned 'functional alcoholic').. ending in a full-blown blackout.
That one's simpler, and much more disappointing. But it just seems more unlikely she would crack so fast without warning, without an underlying medical issue.
Thoughts.........??
My best guess is that she was feeling stressed for some reason, she was in pain (I think the tooth absess may be a clue here, or maybe she was feeling the symptoms of an oncoming stroke- caused by the absess + stress?- but was too scared and proud to say anything).. and because the 'perfect mom in control of everything' facade had to be kept up, she wasn't showing the strain or telling anyone.. kept everything inside.. (which compounded the stress level, in itself).. so she popped a pill that morning, thinking it was a pain med but it was an ambien. And she thought, 'OK, I'm good to go.'
Then (after they left) she was feeling even more weird and desperate and started swigging vodka.. (this suggests a mental breaking point as it was not something a responsible mom driving with kids would do).. and perhaps a stroke or something LIKE a stroke happened, at the same time... (but the autopsy reports did not pick that up..? Well- living people have strokes or stroke-like events that are not detected by tests, all the time! How do you explain that? Also there are things such as an ocular migraine- that can come on suddenly & affect your vision but they eventually go away and are undetectable).
So perhaps it was a perfect storm of events, the wrong pill which turned out to be ambien, which hit her suddenly w/o warning, just AFTER the stops at McD and the convenience store (since she appeared normal at that point).. and at that point she started drinking more because by then her judgement was way off, and to stop the pain... and that was the slippery slope she couldn't recover from. For some people, once they start drinking, something happens and they fall into a rabbit hole. They can't stop. And all that on top of a serious medical emergency.
So my theory that more than ONE thing happened at the same time.. and it all happened very quickly.
The only real clues here we have to go on are the fact that she said her head hurt & she couldn't see. I think those are important.
The fact that she seemed to be driving in a straight line on 'autopilot' with a determined look on her face, not swerving like a drunk person, points to the ambien 'zombie' effect. Or at least, a sudden alcohol blackout. (Plus she probably really believed she was simply driving in the right hand lane and therefore driving straight and was in a hurry to get home).
I just don't believe she decided all of a sudden to start binge drinking, out of the blue, for no reason. Something was causing her pain, something mentally &/or physically was wrong with her head. Something affected her judgement that made her take a few swigs to self-medicate and it got out of control. I think several things hit her at once.. a sudden medical issue, a pill that was too strong, the booze, and then panic & disorientation.
And I think her reaction (or what little we know) points to the fact that she was NOT a seasoned drinker who'd been hiding it. I think, on the contrary.. she was NOT used to large amounts of booze, and that's exactly why it all hit her so fast and hard, so suddenly.
I realize the autopsy showed nothing but booze & pot in her system and the 2nd one confirmed that.. but sometimes tests are wrong or can't detect things. There must be some explanation but when you look at all the facts (as few & perplexing as they are).. everything points to the fact that, unfortunately, the autopsy results MUST be missing something. Either a pain-causing medical event, the pills, or both.
The other other plausible explanation is that she was just stressed from being 'perfect mom', and having to get home on time, started to crack, and started to drink & it quickly spiraled out of control (as she wasn't the type of seasoned 'functional alcoholic').. ending in a full-blown blackout.
That one's simpler, and much more disappointing. But it just seems more unlikely she would crack so fast without warning, without an underlying medical issue.
Thoughts.........??
