Woman dies from apparent drug overdose at Rainbow Family Gathering
by Zachary Kaufman, columbian.com
July 7th 2011
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A 25-year-old California woman was found dead from a suspected drug overdose
Wednesday morning at the Rainbow Family Gathering in Gifford Pinchot National
Forest, Skamania County officials said.
An autopsy will be performed in Clark County on Amber Kellar of Weed, Calif.,
to determine her official cause of death, Skamania County Sheriff Dave Brown
said. It was unclear what drug or drugs might have triggered the woman’s death,
he added.
Reports of drug use have been frequent during the weeklong Rainbow Family
Gathering, Brown said.
On June 24, a man who was helping set up the gathering died, Brown said.
Stephen Pierce, 50, was from Fort Bragg, Calif., the sheriff said. Brown said
officials do not yet know how Pierce died. Pierce’s body was sent to the Clark
County Medical Examiner’s Office, officials said.
Officials estimated around 20,000 outdoors enthusiasts, peace activists and
spiritual seekers attended this year’s Rainbow Family Gathering. The Rainbow
Family Gathering started in 1972. Since then, events bearing the nonprofit
organization’s name have been held across America and in other countries. The
organization has no official leaders or members.
Campers from across America and Canada converged on Gifford Pinchot National
Forest to leave behind the constraints of capitalism and modern technology,
pray for world peace and enjoy nature’s beauty.
Since the event began Friday, there have been reports of assaults, traffic
collisions and marijuana, heroin, psychedelic mushroom and acid use, Brown
said. He said a man on Sunday was badly hurt in a motorcycle accident on Curly
Creek Road about four miles from the gathering. He said another man was hurt in
a car crash on Saturday on state Highway 14, east of Stevenson. He said he
believed both men are at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center.
He did not have official numbers on citations, arrests or towed vehicles
related to the event. However, Brown said he believed the number of citations
and arrests will top 300.
Brown said he was disappointed about what he believed was “fairly rampant” drug
use at Skookum Meadows.
The gathering officially ends today, although a small cadre of campers are
expected to remain on site to clean the campgrounds. There are no reports yet
about the condition of the grounds.
“It’s a little premature until we get out there and do some type of
assessment,” said Ken Sandusky, an assistant spokesman with Gifford Pinchot
National Forest.
Campers began filing out en masse Monday, Brown said. He estimated more than
8,000 people remained in Skookum Meadows Tuesday, but that number was expected
to drop rapidly.
Brown expressed concerns prior to the gathering about how the event could
negatively affect Skamania County’s jail population and court docket. He said
his jail holds 50 persons and there were 43 in the jail on Monday. Some were
related to the gathering but Brown said he will not tabulate exact numbers for
at least a week.
“We were able to weather the storm,” he said. He noted many people detained on
active warrants were brought to Clark County to ensure Skamania County’s jail
did not suffer overcrowding.
The number of people in the Skamania County court has fluctuated over recent
days, but that is not necessarily because of Rainbow Family attendees, a court
official said.
“It would be wrong of me to say the tickets are from the Rainbow festival
because I don’t know that’s what they’re for,” said Karen Wyninger, court
administrator for Skamania County.
Some people arrested were taken to Tacoma to stand before a federal judge,
Brown said.
No arrests were made on the “three or four” assaults reported during the
gathering because victims did not know their attackers and most campers refused
to speak with investigators, Brown said.
“The investigative effort is very difficult,” he said.
Dave Kern contributed to this report.
Ray Legendre: 360-735-4517,
[email protected]//www.facebook.com/raylegend//www.twitter.com/col_smallcities
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http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/jul/06/rainbow-family-participant-dies-of-apparent-overdo/
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