MONTGOMERY COUNTY — The Drug Enforcement Administration is warning parents across the state that drug traffickers are using social media to market drugs to teens, as a Montgomery County mother shares her son’s death to help educate others.
Jennifer Goldschmidt said her son, Aaron Goldschmidt, was 18 and had just graduated from high school when she found him dead at home. She recently visited his cemetery memorial on what would have been his 25th birthday.
“Happy birthday, buddy,” Goldschmidt said as she placed balloons at the memorial. “You would’ve been 25 today.”
Goldschmidt said investigators later found drugs in Aaron’s system. She said he had taken a pain pill that was laced with fentanyl.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Goldschmidt said. “What is this drug? Where does it come from? How did my son get a hold of this?”
Goldschmidt said the family believes Aaron got the pills from a dealer who targeted him on social media. She said the dealer used code words and emojis in messages and had drugs dropped off in front of their home.
“I saw somebody pull in my driveway,” Goldschmidt said. “I asked, ‘Hey, what was that?’ ‘Oh, that was so and so dropping this off for me.’ I didn’t think to question it. Why would I?”
The DEA is urging parents to question activity they may see on their children’s phones or around their homes. The agency said it has linked hundreds of drug trafficking cases to social media, a trend it says has increased since the pandemic. In a video for parents, the DEA explained some emojis may indicate a child is discussing drugs online. The agency also warns parents about hidden apps, including “vault” apps that can appear to be clocks or calculators.
“Some apps can be disguised,” the DEA said in the video. “For example, apps that look like clocks or calculators can actually be ‘vault’ apps.”
Goldschmidt said those are signs she wishes she had known to look for.
“I don’t think any parent is really prepared,” she said.
No one was arrested in Aaron’s case, Goldschmidt said. She said she worries that the person who sold the pill could still be selling drugs.
Goldschmidt had a tree planted next to a stone for Aaron outside Centerville High School, where he had gone to school. She said she hopes the memorial starts conversations that prevent another family from experiencing the same loss.
“He was just taken way too soon,” she said.
