Redding couple Tom and Nancy show a photo of their son Timothy, who died Dec. 2, 2021, from a fentanyl overdose in an Orange County motel room. The couple, who provide outreach to the homeless, asked that their last name not be used for this story. (Photo by Mike Chapman)
Putting faces to the names.
That’s the goal of two Shasta County moms who lost their sons to the local fentanyl scourge.
Rebecca Meeks of Redding and Lora Thomas of Lakehead have posted pictures of their adult sons on their recently created Facebook page, NFO NorCal Fentanyl Outreach, to share their personal loss and bring attention to the powerful and deadly drug.
As part of their cause, they’re inviting the community to a candlelight vigil set for 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31, at the gazebo in Lake Redding Park. The group will provide battery-powered candles for the solemn observance.
The two women are hoping families will join them by bringing photos of loved ones they’ve lost to fentanyl as a personal way of showing those deaths are more than just statistics. The vigil also will recognize those caught in the opioid addiction.
The gathering will take place on International Overdose Awareness Day, when people can also show their support by wearing purple.
In addition, the Sundial Bridge will be lit up in purple Aug. 30-31 as part of the awareness blitz.
“We’re going to be the voices for our kids,” Thomas said at a recent NFO meeting.
Lora Thomas holds the proclamation issued by the Shasta County Board of Supervisors that designates Aug. 31, 2024, as International Overdose Awareness Day in Shasta County. Photo by Mike Chapman
‘Not another number’
Through their Facebook page and chance encounters, other parents are joining Meeks and Thomas in hopes of saving lives and sparing families the same despair they’ve felt from their loved ones’ deaths.
They’ve agreed here to retell their sorrowful stories, often choking back tears. They describe sometimes debilitating grief and the heart-rending holes remaining forever in their lives.
One recurring theme is the absolute need to have the nose spray Narcan(naloxone) available to use as an opioid antidote.
Narcan nasal spray can revive the victim of an opioid overdose, including fentanyl. Signs of an overdose include pinpoint pupils, breathing that slows down or stops, pale and clammy skin, and lips and fingernails that turn blue of gray. (Photo by Mike Chapman)
They’ve been holding meetings on the third Tuesday of the month at the Shasta County Chemical People office at 2280 Benton Drive, Building A.
Meeks said her mission is especially targeted at other mothers, fathers and grandparents.
“I keep saying over and over – and I said this at the coroner’s office – my son is not another number. My son is somebody, someone,” she said. “It’s important for our community to see the faces of fentanyl because most of the people that you see, it isn’t that they were purposely, intentionally using fentanyl, but they were poisoned.”
Telling Timothy’s story
One couple joining the awareness campaign – and to tell the story about their son Timothy – are Redding couple Tom and Nancy, who asked to keep their last name private.
They trace Timothy’s use of drugs from his time at Shasta High School, where he played football, to his death on Dec. 2, 2021, when a maid found him lifeless from an accidental fentanyl overdose in an Orange County motel.
Side-by-side photos show Tom and Nancy’s son, Timothy. At left is Timothy while in high school, and at right is a photo taken before his death due to a fentanyl overdose. (Courtesy photos)
Things were looking up for Timothy after he graduated from Pioneer High School. He fulfilled a dream by enlisting in the U.S. Army. Later he suffered an injury while undergoing combat training and received an honorable discharge.
Nancy says her son’s life became a nightmare in his return to Redding.
“(He) hit drugs hard and ended up on the streets,” she said.
Nancy said a friend helped Timothy enroll in a rehab program. However, going in and out of rehab facilities in ensuing years would become a pattern as he struggled with Xanax, heroin and eventually fentanyl.
Nancy said while her son was an addict, he knew the consequences of what he was doing.
One of the hardest things Tom and Nancy said they had to do as parents was tell Timothy he couldn’t stay with them any longer.
“We had to finally say – which was difficult for us – you can’t live here anymore,” Nancy said.
Timothy had just gotten out of a recovery program in Laguna Beach when he died.
By happenstance, the couple learned from a detective that Timothy had days before used the life-reviving Narcan spray to save someone after their own fentanyl overdose.
“Sadly, our beloved son Timothy lost his life due to an accidental fentanyl overdose. He was all alone. No one was there to administer Narcan,” Nancy said.
In a bittersweet moment, Nancy said Timothy texted the day he died that he wanted to come home for Christmas and “have my home cooking and all that.”
“He died that night at 2 a.m.,” she said.
Officers told Tom and Nancy they see more deaths from illicit drugs in Southern California because they’re stronger, owing to the closeness of the Mexican border where the drugs are smuggled in. Dealers are more apt to cut fentanyl with other substances as drug shipments make their way to Northern California.
A path to helping others
“For me, Tom and our family, a different kind of nightmare began – learning to cope with grief and loss of our Tim Tim,” Nancy said.
Nancy’s connection with the fentanyl outreach group started after an emotional, chance meeting at Meeks’ retail workplace in Redding.
Nancy said she became curious when she overheard Meeks mention angel wings. They began talking and learned each had a son who died from fentanyl.
“I said, ‘Oh, my son passed away as well.’ And she said, ‘You know, it was from fentanyl.’ And then I said, ‘Same with my son.’ And I started crying.”
They exchanged numbers and began texting, surprised to learn both of their sons died at the same age of 29.
“God just put us together,” Nancy believes.
Meanwhile, Timothy’s death put Tom and Nancy on a path to seek out and aid Redding’s unsheltered.
“When my son passed away, the next morning I felt like God put on my heart that I can bring life through death,” Tom said.
He says there’s still an opportunity for hope for parents like themselves, even if they’ve lost a child to drugs.
“For us, through the loss of our son, there’s still hope. I know that sounds hard to believe, but there’s still hope,” he said, explaining their Christian outreach to aid the homeless with simple things like water, shoes and other necessities.
“Even though our son has passed away, his life still speaks to us and motivates us to go out and do these things,” Tom said. “Where I say there’s life even through death is because that motivates us to look at other people in a different way. You see someone that’s out in the street, and that’s someone’s brother or sister, or son or daughter.”
The couple would go to Whiskeytown Lake after their son’s death because that’s a place he loved to visit and go swimming.
In a testament to their faith, Tom and Nancy said they experienced tell-tale signs at the park. “Each time God showed us, look at this,” Nancy said.
Redding couple Tom and Nancy show a photo of their son Timothy, who died Dec. 2, 2021, from a fentanyl overdose in an Orange County motel room. The couple, who provide outreach to the homeless, asked that their last name not be used for this story. (Photo by Mike Chapman)
One day at Whiskeytown they said a rainbow appeared out of nowhere. White doves flew another day. Another time they heard worship music from afar. “It was like God had provided that just to soothe our soul,” Tom said.
On one visit they said they found a small Army figure, hearkening back to Timothy’s time in the military. Another day they came across a cross make out of sticks. They would sometimes happen across heart-shaped rocks.
“Through the sorrow of Timothy’s death, God has brought light back into our lives. Through darkness there is light,” Nancy said.
A student’s perspective
The fentanyl awareness organizers plan to reach vulnerable young people who might be experimenting with drugs for the first time.
Meeks and Thomas want to reinforce the “one pill can kill” message by going into local schools to educate students at high school age and even younger.
They’ve enlisted Thomas’ daughter, Grace, to play a role. She’s a 17-year-old Enterprise High School student who’s getting extra credit by going to Shasta College.
“I’m just helping my Mom to help the youth and target the youth with awareness,” Grace said.
She said, from her perspective, fentanyl use is becoming more and more of a problem each year. Teens are inadvertently using drugs laced with fentanyl or seeking out the drug for the high.
“(Fentanyl) is definitely around. It’s all over. People will be making jokes about it at school, or other people will be posting stuff,” she said.
Grace says she’s heard of a party where beer was laced with fentanyl.
On a side note, it’s not uncommon for dealers to sell cocaine cut with fentanyl as well.
Meanwhile, stories told at the outreach meetings tell of marijuana containing fentanyl getting into the hands of kids, high school football players using fentanyl to stop pain from game injuries and “trail mix” gatherings where teens will raid parents’ medicine cabinets for pill parties.
“I don’t know if parents will have like fentanyl sitting around, but that’s just an example of drug abuse,” Grace said. “Kids – they’re not afraid to do that.”
These gatherings also are known as Skittles parties or rainbow parties where various, colorful prescription drugs are tossed into a bowl and participants take their pick.
Rainbow fentanyl comes in a variety of bright colors, shapes and sizes, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said the production of rainbow fentanyl “is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults.” (DEA photo)
Grace has heard the warnings to stay away from tablets and pills popularly known as rainbow fentanyl.
“It looks like candy and it’s really popular, especially around Halloween,” Grace said.
Not surprisingly, there’s a whole set of emojis used in phone texts as codes for various illegal drugs.
Weighing heavy on Grace is not only her brother Chet’s overdose death, but the passing of her best friend’s sister at 16 last summer.
“She was five days away from turning 17,” she said.
Another story from the outreach group is how people, even those in and out of recovery, will use fentanyl in pairs with Narcan by their side. If one user passes out or overdoses, the other one will spray Narcan up their nose to revive them so they won’t die.
Another potential lifesaver for those who do drugs is to use fentanyl-detecting test strips, usually available through Shasta County Public Health.
“I had no idea what fentanyl was at all until I lost my brother. And then I became more aware of it from my best friend losing her sister,” Grace said.
Lora Thomas’ 17-year-old daughter, Grace, is helping her mother spread the word of the dangers of using drugs laced with fentanyl. (Courtesy photo)
Nowadays, Grace is in the habit of carrying a Narcan kit in her backpack, just in case.
Alarming statistics
Rebecca Meeks and Lora Thomas were excited to learn earlier this month that the Shasta Substance Use Coalition wanted their group to join forces.
Already the coalition is sponsoring the purple lighting of the Sundial Bridge and helping out with the upcoming vigil.
The coalition, formed in late 2021, comprises about 25 organizations and agencies who work together on illegal drug issues, including law enforcement and the Shasta County Office of Education, according to Jill Phillips of the coalition.
“We have a lot of people that are working together on this issue. The idea is that we really want to make sure we have cohesive efforts that are moving us forward and improving this problem,” Phillips said.
She gave a presentation to the Board of Supervisors at the end of July focused on fentanyl’s dangers.
While the drug is an opioid painkiller in the same category as codeine, oxycodone and morphine, it’s up to 100 times stronger than morphine. Doctors will prescribe it, such as through fentanyl patches, so it can be used legitimately and safely.
It’s tasteless and odorless and is commonly added to cocaine and methamphetamine. It can be taken by mouth, smoked, snorted or injected, according to the presentation. A tiny amount of the street drug can be lethal by stopping a person from breathing.
Chart shows overdose deaths by drug type in Shasta County. (Courtesy of Shasta County Substance Use Coalition)
One of the alarming statistics is that overdose deaths from fentanyl rose sharply from eight in 2019 to 58 in 2023. From January to June this year, already 17 fentanyl OD deaths were recorded.
Wake-up call
Another couple helping with the Facebook group is Nick and Becca Bauder of Redding, whose son, Blake, died of a fentanyl overdose at the age of 20. He attended school at Foothill High School before transferring to Enterprise High.
Nick said his wife heard about the social media group by word of mouth and they’ve gone on to volunteer for the vigil.
In September it’ll be two years since Blake lost his life. Nick said Blake called him that morning from their home, saying he was struggling with fentanyl use and wanted to return to rehab.
“He wanted help and he wanted to get better. (Fentanyl) is just so powerful. It’s so strong,” Nick explained.
The father and son made a game plan to get help. But then Nick couldn’t reach him while he and his wife were at work. Nick checked their Ring camera and saw smoke coming out of Blake’s window.
“He had something lit when he overdosed and it actually caught our house on fire,” Nick said. “I raced home and by the time I got here, our whole street was blocked off. There was chaos. There were fire trucks and everything.
“I was running up to the house and when I got there … they had him under a sheet on our front lawn and I just collapsed to the ground,” Nick said.
Nick and Becca Bauder of Redding hold a photo of their son, Blake, who died of a fentanyl overdose in their home.
“(Blake) Bauder consumed a lethal amount of fentanyl. A burning torch he was holding lit the residence on fire,” police investigators said at the time.
Later, a Redding couple were arrested on felony charges after investigators believe they sold the powdered drug to Blake.
Nick said the couple are facing a court case for allegedly bringing the fentanyl to his son that day.
Nick said he and his wife cooperated with authorities by letting them see Ring camera video and their son’s phone.
“We allowed everything because we don’t want to see more families hurt by this, and more people lost. We want this (fentanyl) off the streets,” Nick said.
The couple recently returned from a grief retreat in the Bay Area.
“Right now, we’re just really trying our best to learn how to deal with the grief and get the tools, because we have three other kids,” Nick said. “Life doesn’t stop, you know.”
He hopes spreading the word of fentanyl’s dangers will scare enough people so they avoid it.
“I think getting pictures out there to where people are like, wow, this is a real person. This isn’t just a number. … When you put a picture and a face to the death, it’s someone you might know. Someone might have known Blake, or someone that they know knew Blake, and it becomes more real,” he said.
The rising number of fentanyl deaths in Shasta County and nationwide should be a wake-up call to stay away from the drug, Nick says.
While prescription fentanyl has its place as a bona fide painkiller in a hospital or other medical setting, Nick’s advice to others is don’t take the drug if you don’t know where it’s coming from.
“Some of these kids need to realize – and adults too – that one decision can change your life and your loved ones’ lives forever,” he said. “A piece of us is missing, and we’ll never be the same after this.”
‘Knew something was wrong’
Facebook outreach co-founder Rebecca Meeks tells of losing her son, Brandon, to a fentanyl overdose on Feb. 23. She shared her story on a local Facebook crime page that also got the attention of Lora Thomas.
Many who saw Meeks’ post sympathized with her desire to form support groups.
She said her son began experimenting with drugs at a young age.
“I had no idea,” she said.
Brandon Meeks, left, poses with his mom, Rebecca Meeks, during a visit to the ocean.
Meeks said Brandon’s addiction put her and her neighbors at risk. At first, she didn’t know he was under the influence, but then he would pass out at her home from the drug use.
Eventually, Meeks didn’t want him at her house.
“I had to set boundaries to save my home, to protect my neighbors and to protect myself,” she said. “My son would not get help. I kept reaching out to him and trying to get him to get help. He kept saying he wasn’t ready.”
Brandon became a regular around the homeless camps off Lake Boulevard. Often, Meeks would drop by the sketchy camps looking for her son. Several weeks before his death, Brandon pushed his way into Meeks’ home early in the morning needing a meal and a shower.
That visit was Brandon’s close brush with death. Meeks said she heard a gurgling sound and what sounded like a last breath. She ran to find Brandon unresponsive.
“His lips were blue, his fingers were blue. … I was on the phone with 911 for 28 minutes as they taught me how to do chest compressions on my son,” she said.
“I was screaming, ‘Where’s the help?’ because nobody showed up. Redding PD didn’t show up; paramedics didn’t show up. When the fire department showed up, they took over,” she said.
Meeks said she always kept Narcan at her house but this day another son unfortunately took it with him.
Brandon survived this time and ended up in the hospital before being sent to a mental facility for about 10 days. She said he was looking forward to entering a rehab stint because he felt trapped in his addiction.
When Brandon was about to enter the program, he asked Meeks to bring him a pack of cigarettes, but then she didn’t hear from him.
The next day, a body was found behind a Lake Boulevard business.
“When I got off work, I just knew it was my son. I knew something was wrong,” Meeks said.
She said Brandon had a friend that he called his homeless street mama.
“She was the one who broke the news to me,” Meeks said.
To this day, Meeks can’t go to Lake Boulevard without feeling dread.
All walks of life
Meeks’ push for fentanyl awareness is driven by her desire to save others by using her son’s story as an example.
“His death was not in vain. His life mattered,” she said.
Meeks wants to bring the face of fentanyl to Redding and make people realize that using the drug affects those in all walks of life.
“People are thinking it’s a stereotype of the homeless, and it’s not. These are coming from rich homes,” she said.
“I want to break the stereotype. People think that it’s just addicts on the streets. No, it’s not. It’s (affecting) children, teenagers. It’s babies. It’s somebody’s mother. It’s somebody’s grandparent. It’s somebody’s spouse,” she said.
The Butte County District Attorney’s Office recently reported a Chico woman is facing 10 years in prison for the fentanyl overdose death of her infant son.
Christy Ann Scarbrough, 40, pleaded no contest to felony child abuse after the 1-year-old boy was found face down and unresponsive in his crib. He later died at the hospital in July 2023. Chico police said a straw typically used to ingest fentanyl was found in the crib.
One shocking fact that Meeks learned on the street is that “teenagers are storming the gates” looking for drugs.
“What I mean by that is they’re entering these camps looking for opiates. It might be a Percocet, Norcos, or if it’s something in fentanyl,” she said. “The pills they’re receiving isn’t Percocet. It’s like fake Percocet, that’s nothing but fentanyl. The whole pill is fentanyl,” she warned.
Another fentanyl poisoning
For Lora Thomas and her husband, the addiction journey of her son, Chet Mumford of Anderson, began with taking opioids to stop the pain from a bad toothache and infection.
“And then he started using other things. He tried to clean himself up so many times,” Thomas said.
Lora Thomas, center, poses for a family photo with her husband and their son, Chet Mumford, who died from a fentanyl-laced substance almost three years ago.
She said her son was upstanding in the community and didn’t fit the image of a disheveled drug user.
“He was an active participant in society. He worked extremely hard. He was a contractor and had his own business. He had his own house and was 31. He was doing great,” she said.
At one point, Thomas said her son pulled himself together by becoming drug-free and “completely clean.”
Chet Mumford out on a hike.
However, an episode spurred Chet to go to a friend for drugs.
“I don’t know what it was but I know that it had fentanyl in it because that’s what the coroner’s report said. And he did not do fentanyl,” Thomas said.
Her son was found passed out in a bathroom and not breathing. “It was pretty horrific,” Thomas said.
She said her daughter-in-law did CPR on him until she couldn’t do it anymore.
“She had been waiting for the ambulance to come and they didn’t get there soon enough. She didn’t have Narcan or anything like that at home,” Thomas said.
Chet died Sept. 10, 2021. Afterward, Thomas says she started having panic attacks and severe depression.
“I was in absolute shock. I couldn’t believe it happened,” she said. “I pretty much laid in bed for two years.”
Lora Thomas, left, and Rebecca Meeks prepare battery-powered candles during a recent meeting of their Facebook group, NFO NorCal Fentanyl Outreach. The group invites the community to join its candlelight vigil at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31, at the gazebo in Lake Redding Park. (Photo by Mike Chapman)
“My doctor put me on meds and took me off work for a while. And I went to a counselor on a regular basis,” she said.
It was no longer fun for Thomas to redecorate her house or do crafting. She used to love fishing and hunting, but has mostly put those aside. She used to enjoy building things like a gazebo and a bench in front of her house.
People she knew didn’t understand what she was going through.
“I would have people after a year saying, ‘Why are you grieving still? What’s wrong with you? Why haven’t you bounced back?”
Her goal now is to reach people one-on-one to prevent more fentanyl deaths.
“I want my outreach to be preventative and to help individuals, not just the masses,” she said. “I want to give Narcan to everybody, because if everybody has it in their first-aid kit, then they could save anybody’s life,” she said.
“Every life that we can get help to, it’ll make a difference,” Thomas said.
Candlelight vigil
Who: NFO NorCal Fentanyl Outreach | Redding CA, on Facebook to share awareness about fentanyl overdose.
What: Candlelight vigil on International Overdose Awareness Day
When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024
Where: Gazebo at Lake Redding Park
Why: The vigil will remember those who lost their lives to an overdose and support others who are surviving the loss of their loved ones.
How to get Narcan (naloxone)
– Send a message for free naloxone through the the Shasta Substance Use Coalition page on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/ShastaSubstanceUseCoalition
– Also free from Shasta County Public Health at 2560 Breslauer Way, Redding, from noon to 4 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays.
– Over the counter at most major pharmacies. Private health insurance likely will cover the cost, otherwise it’s in the $45 range.
– Free from a vending machine at the Redding Rancheria’s Churn Creek Urgent Care office, 3184 Churn Creek Road, Redding
– At Saturday’s vigil at Lake Redding Park
Sources: Shasta County Harm Reduction and Shasta Substance Use Coalition
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