An Iowa family who lost their daughter to a fentanyl overdose is offering a large cash reward to anyone who can identify the drug dealer that sold her the drugs.
"We cannot bring Ciara back. The epidemic in Iowa is out of control," Robert Gilliam, whose 22-year-old daughter Caira Gilliam died of a drug overdose last month, told FOX Television Stations. "If we can get one drug dealer off the street, it is our hope that we can save one life."
The family is now offering a reward of up to $50,000 to the person who can provide the name, address, and phone number of the dealer who was responsible for selling Ciara the drugs, no questions asked. They say any information given to the family will be provided to the Des Moines Police Department.
Gilliam said that his daughter's boyfriend became concerned on August 23 that he could not get in touch with Ciara, prompting her mother and stepfather to perform a wellness check. They tried their daughter's employer, who said she had the day off.
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At Ciara's house, the parents discovered their daughter's car in the driveway.
"They knocked on the door and knocked on the windows. No one answered," Gilliam said. "Ciara’s bedroom window was unlocked and [her] stepfather climbed through the window and found Ciara deceased on her bedroom floor."
An investigation revealed that Ciara had died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl.
The death comes amid a fentanyl epidemic in the U.S., with 107,000 Americans having died of drug overdoses last year, roughly 80,000 of whom died from overdosing on fentanyl. That number represented a 23% jump from the year before, a grim reality that has now hit Ciara's family.
"She was our everything," Gilliam said. "This is leaving a lot of heartache and a huge void in our lives. Ciara called us multiple times a day. We had the best relationship that a mother, father, and daughter could ever have."
By going after the drug dealer responsible for their daughter's death, the family hopes they can do their part to save at least one life and serve as a warning shot to those who sell the potentially fatal drugs.
"We hope this serves notice to the drug dealers that there are some of us that will stand up and take action when no one else will," Gilliam added.
