Utah Dad Declares War on Drug Dealers

Nov. 27, 2006 — -- Lance Merrill came to know the seedy streets of Provo, Utah, while searching for his 19-year-old, heroin-addicted daughter, Jani.

"This is the part of town where there was just a lot of obvious drug activity," Merrill said.

Just a year ago, Jani seemed like the all-American girl. She wore braces, dated the high school quarterback, went to the prom, and loved the outdoors.

When all that changed, her dad suspected something was wrong.

"She liked to hang glide. She liked to ski. She liked to hike," Merrill said. "All of a sudden, all the motivation was gone for all those things."

Merrill confronted his daughter, who initially denied she was doing drugs.

"I'd say, 'I'm not asking if you're doing drugs. I wanna know what drug you're doing,'" he said. "We went around [the issue] for a couple of hours, and finally she told me that she was snorting heroin. And when she admitted that to me, I knew we had a terrible problem."

Dealer Delivers Drugs to Her Bedroom

Utah County authorities say heroin addiction among teens is on the rise. On average, statistics say, one young person dies of a heroin overdose each week.

"It's just amazing how much [heroin] was coming into our valley and how many young kids were experimenting with it, and it's killing them," said Lt. Phil Murphy of Provo's Major Crimes Task Force.

The night before Jani was to begin a full-time drug rehabilitation program, she overdosed in her own bedroom.

"It became her prison at the end, because we locked her in her room." Merrill said. "We put a locking handle. We thought she'd be safe if we could contain her."

Her family could not protect her; her dealer was crafty and persistent. Because Jani couldn't leave the house, he brought the drugs to her.

"They would actually come throw heroin through the window to her," Merrill said.

Before Jani was to leave for rehab, her parents discovered her unconscious in bed. She had overdosed but was still alive. Over the next six months, Jani overdosed three times.

"I told her, I said, 'Jani, do you realize that the next time you use heroin, you will die?'" Merrill said. "And she said, 'Dad, I don't want to die.'"

Too Late for a Young Life

Desperate to save his daughter, Merrill decided to track down her dealer.

He asked his 12-year-old daughter to search Jani's cell phone for clues.

Once Merrill learned the identity of the man he believed was Jani's dealer, he gave it to police.

After months went by with no arrest, Merrill decided to offer a bounty and put up posters offering $500 for tips on the man's whereabouts.

Within hours, Chris Cartwright, a 23-year-old with prior drug possession convictions, was arrested on unrelated drug charges.

Unfortunately, it was too late for Jani. She had disappeared again, and her father knew he had seen her for the last time.

"I told my wife she'll be dead Saturday, and she was," Merrill said.

Dad on a Mission

Jani died in September. However, her father is not giving up on his mission. He has declared war on drug dealers.

He drives around putting up wanted posters. He has also set up a Web site for tipsters to anonymously give information to police.

Police credit Merrill with helping them arrest Cartwright, who is currently awaiting trial for drug possession charges.

Authorities add that they concentrate most of their resources on catching top-level drug distributors instead of street dealers, and that it takes time to gather enough evidence to make charges stick.

They welcome tips from the public, though.

"I'd like to put their faces on posters all over town so that they're afraid, so that the drug dealers are afraid," Merrill said. "I'm tired of the people being afraid. I think the drug dealers should be afraid, because there's a lot more good people than bad people."