Clues sought in ’06 death
The girl may have been alive when dumped on a desolate road.
YOUNGSTOWN — Veronica Rose Luthern’s obituary described the one-time cheerleader as a friendly teenager who worked as a waitress, enjoyed sports and liked to dance.
There was also a tragic, dark side to the pretty, brown-haired girl.
A coroner’s report, compiled from family interviews, described her as a tattooed drug abuser and high school dropout trying to get a degree online. The report added that she worked at strip clubs and prowled seedy North Side drug houses.
She declined to seek treatment for her bipolar disorder, investigators were told, choosing instead to self-medicate with Xanax, a drug used to treat anxiety.
At 6:45 a.m. June 27, 2006, a passer-by discovered Veronica’s lifeless, rain-soaked body face up on a desolate stretch of Sycamore Street, just west of Andrews Avenue on the North Side. She’d turned 18 on May 6.
Veronica was wearing a green and white halter top and blue jeans. Her purse, with cash inside, and flip-flop sandals were nearby.
The jeans were pulled down to midthigh, and there was a small amount of grease or oil on her neck, which appeared to Rick Jamrozik, a coroner’s investigator, to mean that someone had grabbed the pants to pull her out of a vehicle.
Toxicology tests showed she had ingested cocaine, Fentanyl (a high-potency opioid), oxycodone (pain killer) and benzodiazepine (sedative). The drug cocktail caused her death.
How she came to overdose to her death, however, falls into the “could not be determined” death category. Nationwide, 2 percent of deaths land in that category.
An intentional overdose wasn’t considered because family who saw her the night before told investigators that she was “looking to party.” The Girard girl’s death was likely an accidental overdose but that wasn’t determined with certainty, Jamrozik said.
There have been situations, he said, where people passed out from drugs have been injected with an overdose and died. Such deaths could be considered homicide, he said.
“There’s a chance she was alive when dumped,” Jamrozik said. “I remember looking at her [recent] driver’s license photo, she looked hardened, compared to the 2004 Hubbard High School ID I found in her purse.”
He termed what happened to Veronica’s appearance between 2004 and 2006 the result of a “downward spiral.”
Jamrozik hopes someone comes forward with information about what happened.
Tipster are asked to call Crime Stoppers at (330) 746-CLUE. Callers can remain anonymous. Rewards are given for information that leads to an arrest.
“It’s been a rough 22 months. I chose to block out her death. My sister kept track with detectives, I couldn’t do it,” said Veronica’s mother, Denise Luthern, 42, of Girard. “The idea is that they could have driven her to the hospital and she’d be alive today. It’s clearly foul play.”
Luthern said Veronica didn’t have a car so would have called someone for a ride. She believes someone gave her daughter “too much of something.”
Veronica likely passed out in the car and whoever dumped her panicked and didn’t want to get involved, her mother said.
Veronica’s sister, 21-year-old Melanie Luthern, is a student at Ohio State University. She said three months before Veronica died, one of her good friends overdosed and Veronica was the only one willing to call 911.
She cried recalling how very close she and Veronica had been, drifting apart only when Veronica turned to drugs. It’s upsetting, she said, thinking that it may have been one of her sister’s friends who left her in the street.
“She was a beautiful girl. It drives us crazy every day. We have no idea who she’d been with, there was supposed to be party on Saranac [Avenue], just a couple blocks from where she was found,” said Veronica’s aunt, Debbie Campbell of Hubbard.
“She was dumped on the side of road like garbage — and up the road they went.”
Campbell said her niece had completed three months at a drug rehabilitation center in East Liverpool and was trying to get her life back on track. The girl got involved with drugs and the wrong people, Campbell said.
Veronica’s death was investigated by Detective Sgts. Ron Rodway and John Kelty.
“We want to know what happened to her. She was left for dead in the middle of the street,” Kelty said. “She had to be with someone she knew — you don’t come from Girard and go to a Youngstown dope house by yourself.”
He said it would be good to provide the family with closure, peace of mind. There was no evidence that she was forced to take drugs but the way she was left — like a dog — bothers one’s sensibilities, he said. It was upsetting, he said, that whoever was with her didn’t take her to a hospital or call police.
The person — or people — who dumped Veronica could be charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence, said City Prosecutor Jay Macejko. Also, under the right circumstances, those involved may be responsible for involuntary manslaughter, he said.
meade@vindy.com