NY - Natalie Ciappa, 18, dies of heroin OD at Seaford house party, 20 June 2008

Warning this is heart wrenching. Natalie Ciappa's parents went looking for her when she didn't return home after going out Friday night. The couple found their daughter at 11:00AM dead in a home that had hosted a party.

Natalie was 18 and was scheduled to graduate from a Long Island High School. 19 year old See Woo Sung was arrested and charged with evidence tampering. He was cleaning up ber bottles and liquor when the Ciappa's arrived, and was focused on the cleaning up as their daughter lay dying. He didn't even call 911. Sung is awaiting arraignment on the felony charge. I hate, hate, hate to hear about this kind of thing. A young lady. A kid. An 18 year old. It's too sad.


http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--partydeath0623jun23,0,762570.story

what an idiot loser!! cleaning up while she was dying? way too sad.

many teens do not have a curfew much less that early. if her parents were concerned & out looking for her at 11, she was likely not as "experienced" as the party crowd who left behind all the beer bottles & such... the host was more concerned with tidying up before his parents returned than tending an unconcious girl? there is no explanation for that! ... i hope he has a few years to think about the value of a life as he keeps a little 6 X 10 concrete cell tidy.

noZme said:

many teens do not have a curfew much less that early. if her parents were concerned & out looking for her at 11, she was likely not as "experienced" as the party crowd who left behind all the beer bottles & such... the host was more concerned with tidying up before his parents returned than tending an unconcious girl? there is no explanation for that! ... i hope he has a few years to think about the value of a life as he keeps a little 6 X 10 concrete cell tidy.

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I agree with you about the jail cell, but her parents were looking for her at 11 AM. I hope it's b/c they didn't know where she was and not that it took that long for them to worry.

If Sung actually let her lay there and die, he deserves nothing.
No trial, no time served, nada. He should be hung or maybe thrown off a cliff, or something else awful for allowing the girl's death...and right before she was to graduate.

God bless her parents.

Cops: Teen refused to help parents of girl who died

As the father of Natalie Ciappa tried to breathe life into his 18-year-old daughter who lay unconscious on a couch, police said the teenage host of the house party in Seaford refused to help.

Instead, Seewoo Sung cleared away the empty bottles and beer cans strewn about the recreation room floor as he tried to hide the signs of the previous night's gathering, police said.

Police Monday arrested Sung, 19, of South Street, and charged him with tampering with physical evidence, a Class E felony. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 1 to 4 years in jail, police said.

Sung is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday at First District Court in Hempstead. According to records, Sung was charged with assault in April 2008 and he pleaded guilty to a May 2007 assault charge. He was also charged with criminal possession of marijuana in August 2007, according to records.
At a news conference at police headquarters in Mineola Monday, Det. Sgt. Gregory Quinn of the homicide squad said Sung and Ciappa, one of at least a dozen youths who attended the party, were friends from the area.

Yet Sung did not assist Natalie's father, Victor Ciappa, when he arrived around 11 a.m. Saturday and asked for help performing CPR, Quinn said.

"We don't know what his intentions were," he said, referring to Sung. "He refused to help. He was continuing to clean up the garage and remove evidence so that the police department and his mother did not know he was having a party."

Ciappa was taken to New Island Hospital in Bethpage and pronounced dead at 11:39 a.m., police said. The cause of death is unknown at this time, police said. Detectives are awaiting the results of an autopsy and a toxicology report.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/nassau/ny-linata0624,0,3645895.story

I'm ducking already because I know what's coming at me.... BUT if this young lady consumed so much alcohol by her own choice and sadly died from poisoning and this young man simply thought she was hung over and therefore lewt her rest then she has lost her life by her own actions. Of course this 18 yr old kid was cleaning up, it was after a party, evidence tampering? I think that might be a bit of a stretch. He may have been in way over his head but it doesn't sound out of the ordinary for some teens out there.

This is soooo sad, tragic and such a waste. God please please help me find ways to keep my kids from such a fate, I'm already doing all I can but man when I read these stories it reminds me how FOOLISH teens can be.


J.

jubie said:

I'm ducking already because I know what's coming at me.... BUT if this young lady consumed so much alcohol by her own choice and sadly died from poisoning and this young man simply thought she was hung over and therefore lewt her rest then she has lost her life by her own actions. Of course this 18 yr old kid was cleaning up, it was after a party, evidence tampering? I think that might be a bit of a stretch. He may have been in way over his head but it doesn't sound out of the ordinary for some teens out there.

This is soooo sad, tragic and such a waste. God please please help me find ways to keep my kids from such a fate, I'm already doing all I can but man when I read these stories it reminds me how FOOLISH teens can be.


J.

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Jubie I hear what you're saying, but the father was performing CPR on his child. He knew she wasn't "resting" then. Still he kept cleaning up. The kid's been arrested before so he knows a little about getting locked up. Yes, saving his own azzz, but a father trying to breathe life into his child and that fool is cleaning up. I'd be irate.

It is sad. Every single day I worry about these kids. It takes but one foolish choice and that is that. Sad.

Counselors: 'No magic bullet' for drug addiction

Drug counselors and narcotics detectives liken the effort to combat heroin and save an addicted child to a maze, a nightmare, a 15-round heavyweight fight.

"There is no magic bullet to this," said John Venza of Outreach Project, which runs drug treatment centers on Long Island and in New York City. "A lot of parents think there must be a single thing to do and ... say, 'This is what we need to do.' But it's more of a long process."

As Long Islanders face what police say is the increasing use of a purer, more dangerous form of heroin, especially in southern Nassau County, the Ciappa family laid bare its struggle to save their daughter's life.

Victor and Doreen Ciappa found their daughter, Natalie, 18, dead in a Seaford rec room June 21 after she went to a party with friends. Although the exact cause of death has not yet been determined, Nassau officials on Wednesday linked the Plainedge High School student to a heroin ring operating primarily out of the Hempstead bus terminal.
Among a dozen people recently arrested was Ciappa's ex-boyfriend, Philip Ordaya, 21, of Massapequa, who police have charged with drug conspiracy. No definitive link has been made between the ring and the heroin Ciappa is believed to have taken before her death.

A "Lucky 13" stamp on a packet of heroin Doreen Ciappa found in her daughter's bedroom before she died matched stamps on packets found during recent raids of the ring, according to Nassau police.

Doreen Ciappa's story of struggles with her daughter -- attempts to convince her to enter rehab, a terrifying overdose, searches of her room -- resonated with experts, who said many aspects of heroin addiction defy expectations and even reason.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-linata0711,0,1299023.story

Ten weeks after her 18th birthday, Natalie Ciappa spent an evening with friends before returning to Massapequa and the safety of her bed.

The Plainedge High School senior even made curfew, which, in recognition of her recently conferred adulthood, had been moved back one hour, to 2:30 a.m.

At 9 a.m., in a room adjacent to her own, Natalie's parents woke to an alarm clock.

They had planned a family outing to Jones Beach to watch the Blue Angels in celebration of Memorial Day.
Those plans were shattered by an awful sound.

"It was like rasping, a hard rasping," Natalie's mother, Doreen, recalled Wednesday.

Her father, Victor, jumped up and walked into the hall to investigate. The open door to her room was an ominous sign.

"She never, ever leaves her door open," he explained.

Peering inside, Victor found his bright, beautiful and only daughter. She wasn't breathing, he said. Her skin was cool. And her lips were a light blue.

Stunned, he pulled Natalie into his arms and carried her to the living room. Doreen ran to call 911.

"Thank God, there was an ambulance already at the corner," Doreen said.

Rescue workers revived Natalie. Her parents -- and three brothers, one older and two younger -- were thrilled when she woke. But it wouldn't last long.

"You died and we brought you back," one rescuer told a groggy Natalie after she asked what had happened.

"You should have left me alone," Natalie replied. "You should have let me die."

Three weeks later, Natalie did die.

Not at home, or with her family. She died facedown in the cushions of a sofa. In a makeshift garage-rec room in Seaford, surrounded by leftovers of the party she'd dressed so carefully to attend just hours before.

This is the story of the last weeks of Natalie's life, and the parents who couldn't save her.

In high school, Natalie had excellent grades, peaking with a weighted average of 113. And she was a gifted singer, too.

But Natalie's appearance, behavior and grades began to slip after she fell in love with Philip Ordaya, 21, of Seaford, who was arrested Monday and has pleaded not guilty to drug possession and conspiracy charges. Ordaya has not been charged with dealing.

She broke up with Ordaya, said her parents -- who once threatened to have him arrested unless he left their property -- but never forgot him.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-lijoy0710,0,4428621.column

It sounds like this girl overdosed on heroin. According to the article, the parents have had problems with her and have tried to get her into rehab. Very sad that such a young life had to end so short. As a mother of a 17 year old, I cannot imagine what the parents are going through but my heart goes out to them.

Also sounds like maybe a suicide?

I had a partner once who was a heroin addict. I wouldnt wish it on my worst enemy so my heart goes out to these parents too. Its a terrible thing.

Lucy's mom said:

Also sounds like maybe a suicide?

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So, in light of all the problems with drugs and all, why did they arrest another person that had a party? I mean, since the history has come out, I don't think another kid of "19" could have saved her. Sounds like she had a death wish and was a drug addict.

angelmom said:

I agree with you about the jail cell, but her parents were looking for her at 11 AM. I hope it's b/c they didn't know where she was and not that it took that long for them to worry.

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Yup, I don't understand not worrying until 11AM and as noZme typed most teens don't have curfew's.

My Son spent his teen years in Texas where he was considered an adult at 17 but up until he got his first 'bachelor pad' at 18 1/2 he always called me (except 1 time) even if he was gonna be just 10 minutes late just 'cause he knew I would be worrying. I'm very thankful he never gave me much reason to worry.

But at 18 this girl was of legal age.... I dunno, if she was my daughter and still living at home she mind my rules or I would have known the reason why way before 11AM.

Sad story. And the dude cleaning instead of helping... it's a wonder that dad didn't hurt him.

Sly

eta: oh my, I hadn't gotten to the part where she had wanted to die earlier. This is so sad.

I think I need to hear more about this before I make a judgment.

deanws said:

So, in light of all the problems with drugs and all, why did they arrest another person that had a party? I mean, since the history has come out, I don't think another kid of "19" could have saved her. Sounds like she had a death wish and was a drug addict.

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Do you mean the host of the party where she died? He was charged with evidence tampering, not any crimes related to being responsible for her death as far as I know.

When the father showed up and was doing CPR, calling 911 etc the host was in the same room and instead of helping out he cleaned up the liquor bottles and other evidence of the party so he wouldn't get in trouble. I guess not helping isn't any sort of crime but throwing out the evidence of your illegal activities is tampering with evidence in this kind of situation. Thats his only charge I think, not any of the drug ring stuff?

SLY said:

Yup, I don't understand not worrying until 11AM

But at 18 this girl was of legal age.... I dunno, if she was my daughter and still living at home she mind my rules or I would have known the reason why way before 11AM.

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Just because they found this kid at 11:00AM does not mean they weren't sick with worry and looking all over for her. Not to mention the kid was a heroin addict. You see your child OD in your own home I am sure these people were beyond anything we can imagine.

Maybe they were naive and hoped beyond hoped the girl was clean. Once you see someone OD on heroin that's not even your child or even a relative you'd worry about them forever granted they were "saved".

HOuse rules. Ummm, would probably be "No dope in my house. No works. No drug user friends". The list is endless. I'm guessing these poor parents were worrying 24/7, but couldn't chain the girl up. Couldn't lock the doors and windows and keep watch over her every single second of the day. Plus she was a heroin addict. You pretty much do what you want when you're a heroin addict. Calling home was last thing on her mind.

Agreed that the boy who hosted the party should not have tampered with evidence and had some compassion and concern. Then again at that age all you're worried about is if your mom will find out you had a party. Oh yeah and one where an 18 year old died of a heroin overdose.

Isn't it illegal to drink until you're 21? Eh, these young people were 18. Legal to get in trouble as an adult, illegal to drink.

That guy hosted a party where he served alcohol. He's guilty of at least that. The evidence was the remaining liquor and beer bottles.

It doesn't matter that the young woman od'd and he wasn't responsible for that, granted. But the circumstances of her death caused him to get caught. He's guilty.

We cannot allow people to get away with things, just because everyone does it. There's laws for a reason. If you don't want to do the time, don't do the crime.

JMHO
fran