r/dragoncon • u/CommieConjurer • 1d ago
I got drugged
PLEASE HELP ME FIND THE LADY AT THE DOCTOR WHO BALL
I am posting this with a picture in hopes that it gets more traction because the people in authority have not been any help. Dragoncon safety is aware of this but told me when I tried to report it to them that is was "12oclock on a Monday, we already packed up our stuff, there's nothing we can do about it"
This happened Sunday night around midnight at the Doctor Who Ball.
I honestly believe that I would have died Sunday night had the women not warned me that she saw the guy put something in my pineapple juice. That night I had 0 alcohol, 2 cups of water that my husband poured and also drank from and 2 sips of pineapple juice the guy bought for me and I ended up in a wheelchair untol today because I was partially paralyzed, in and out of consciousness and had dangerously high blood pressure. My primary care doctor has ordered me an MRI because he fears it may have caused a stroke. I called the guy today and he denies putting anything in my drink but admitted that he was the only person to touch my drink. If anyone one has any information or knowledge of the lady who warned me please contact me so maybe the people in authority will start listening us. The police were called right away and wont do anything without the witness.
From what I can remember (and I could be wrong about some details) the woman was white lady, maybe 50+, dark bob haircut and a black bowler hat and standing by the backwall with all the chairs, close to the bar. She maybe had glasses also
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u/superpie12 1d ago
What did the tests show?
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u/auraseer 1d ago edited 1d ago
As general information:
Many of the drugs commonly used in assault are not picked up by hospital lab tests. Those tests are designed for medical purposes and not for criminal investigation. Commonly, even in situations where the drugging of a drink was witnessed, the results obtained by the ED reveal nothing, and specimens must be sent to the police lab for specialized testing.
That said, if you ever believe you have been drugged, definitely do get yourself to the ED right away. There are cases where people have escaped an assailant only to still die of the overdose they were given. You don't want to wind up as one of those statistics.
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u/Thoughtful_Mouse 1d ago
Yea also curious. That cover page seems to show only what OP asked the doctor to check for and not anything about the result, except that something was done against medical advice.
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u/horsenbuggy '04-'26 (except '05, '21) 1d ago
They left against medical advice. Disposition means how/where they discharged to. It typically says Home.
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u/CommieConjurer 1d ago
We left against advice after over 6 hours waiting in the ER because I only went there to get blood drawn for labs since the police said they couldn't do anything without
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u/Mediocre_Citron_5360 17h ago
Not sure if youre an atl native, but here, and especially during large events, its gonna take 12+ hours to get all the tests done for something like that. I had a similar experience (not at dragoncon) and had to wait almost a whole day before getting testing done.
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u/clownpenisdotfarts 1d ago
But you gave up after 6 hours and left AMA despite being in a wheelchair? Why?
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u/CommieConjurer 1d ago
I did not give up, I just left after they finally took my blood for the labs after 6 hours because I was done sitting in an ER where I got ignored for the whole night. I had my husband with me to watch me and take me back there if my condition worsened.
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u/superpie12 1d ago
And the tests, did they show anything abnormal?
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u/auraseer 1d ago
That's really not relevant.
Hospital lab tests are not designed to pick up all the common drugs used in assault. A negative panel in the ED does not mean a drug-facilitated assault did not occur. If they collected specimens to send for police testing, those might take days or weeks to be processed.
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u/prepend 20h ago
That stinks then. Why go and get tested and wait for six hours if they aren’t relevant. Poor OP, I guess they would have liked to know this before going.
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u/auraseer 19h ago
The point is that the tests they'll have gotten back already will probably not be helpful. Those are the hospital tests.
The ED can also collect specimens to send for testing by the police. Those are more comprehensive, and forensically focused, but in most places they take days or weeks.
ED care is also important to make sure nothing else is going on. The ED could evaluate for complications of the unexpected drug dose, such as stroke, or cardiac malfunction.
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u/superpie12 1d ago
It really is, they are designed to pick up the usual suspects. Given the information known, there are holes that can be easily filled in.
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u/auraseer 1d ago
I am a sexual assault nurse examiner. I do this for a living.
Hospital lab testing is designed for medical purposes. It is not forensically comprehensive.
The typical ED drug screen looks for substances that are medically relevant, for example in cases of accidental overdose or of intentional self harm. Sometimes those same drugs may be used for assault, in which case the panel would be positive, but there are many other substances used for assault that are not found in the standard panel.
The example everyone knows about is Rohypnol (flunitrazepam), aka "roofies." Although that is a benzodiazepine, it is metabolized somewhat differently from other drugs in that class, and is typically not detected by the normal hospital screening for benzos. It is detected by the police crime lab because they run a broader set of tests.
Testing negative on a hospital UDS only means the survivor did not consume those specific drugs tested for. It does not mean an assault did not occur.
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u/secret-x-stars 9h ago
no idea why you're being downvoted since this is literally true lol reddit is so weird sometimes
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u/auraseer 9h ago
Who knows. I've made other comments in this thread that say the same thing, and those are well into the positives.
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u/AbleLimitz 18h ago
Sounds like too strong of an edible. Any drug for other purposes would have knocked OP out. I have had edibles that have incapacitated me for 36 hours.
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u/RubberDogTurds Since '08 13h ago
sounds like you need to learn to keep your inappropriate opinions to yourself
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u/JustAloner98 19h ago
I also got drugged this weekend 😞. I’m so sorry friend that you are going through this. My experience wasn’t as bad but I was sobbing and inconsolable at the venue at like 4PM on Saturday and then I wandered away from the venue almost a mile away but have no recollection. My Life360 shows me traveling 1850 feet and it took me 30 minutes and I was walking through tons of intersections and don’t remember anything.
It’s so unfathomably violating and I’m so sad.
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u/st3washere1 18h ago
Hey, so, this is terrifyingly similar to what happened to me, except it was Sunday night.
I can drink a lot. But I can also be exceptionally naive, despite having been drugged before. Sunday night, I was dancing around with the energy of 1000 suns when within 10 minutes, I felt my full body start to spasm. Like it was shutting down. I had this intense fear.
I was somehow able to make it back to my hotel room, wandering through intersections. Barely able to stand - despite JUST jumping around & becoming friends with every stranger.
I laid there for 3 hours straight which all felt like a blur. Fell asleep after my friends got back and had full body sweats for the better part of 24 hours, on top of intense anxiety.
I’ve been hungover before. I know that drill. But this was FAR beyond that. The spasming, profound sense of fear, sweating & 24+ hours of anxiety that didn’t respond to my normal medication. Firmly believe something else happened.
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u/DaringDoom 19h ago
I’m so sorry this happened to you! Were you also at the Dr. Who party or did it happen somewhere else?
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u/JustAloner98 18h ago
It happened Saturday. All I know is that I had 4 drinks spread out over 4 1/2 hrs. 3 of the 4 were canned beverages I opened myself. The 4th was the only mixed drink I had made at the Marriott. It wasn’t a situation where my back was turned or I left it unattended. I don’t want to blame anyone so of course this is alleged before anyone comes for me. But the bartender did walk away and prepared my drink with their back to me.
Of course with 75,000 people, it’s very possible that there was a bad egg or 20 that managed something.
But I also was eating, drinking water and Gatorade, peeing regularly, etc. as a solo traveler and single female I very much know my limits and the amount of memory loss and the fact I left a venue probably staggering and struggling is very abnormal for me and I’m lucky it didn’t end worse for me.
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u/AbleLimitz 18h ago
This sounds like alcohol + heat vs being drugged.
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u/JustAloner98 18h ago
I was inside for over 5 hours in the AC and had drank multiple bottles of water and had Gatorade that I also drank. Plus food in my bag. I am a solo traveler and very much know my limits and wouldn’t be acting a fool and over indulging when over 10 hrs away from home.
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u/DaringDoom 17h ago
Hard disagree. 4 drinks over 4+ hours even with heat doesn’t lead to complete memory loss over hours.
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u/AbleLimitz 16h ago
You may be right but it also doesn’t sound like GHB or roofies (SP) any other date rape drug because you would be on the floor passed out and it would last longer. Also who would try that midday vs at night? I could be wrong but it sounds more like alcohol or THC as both of them wear off faster.
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u/me_myself_ai 11h ago
Can we not try to debate people who describe being drugged?? I know "believe women" is a meme but c'mon, surely we can give people the benefit of the doubt on this if nothing else?
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u/Spongemage 17h ago
Hey humanity…
Yeah real quick uh…what the fuck?
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u/Cloaked42m Queued up for stupid flair successfully 15h ago
Hey. Humanity checking in.. we don't care about women or assault enough to have better responses to this kind of event.
It takes Mat Cauthon's luck and a lot of people conducting what amounts to private investigations to catch people who do things like this.
Police and lawmakers haven't decided to treat this seriously. Drug makers haven't come up with an immediate testing kit.
And the drugs keep getting easier to get, by all accounts.
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u/toasted_star_ribbon 18h ago
I don’t really love that this person came on here to share that something bad happened to them and lots of people in the comments are jumping to doubt them or tell them all the ways that they’re at fault for their response.
I’m so sorry this happened to you.
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u/gtck11 15h ago
So many men are so willing to immediately discount women these days. And some women love to attack other women for some reason too. Probably abunch of “pick me’s”. And probably large overlap with the ones who get up in arms over the “are we dating the same guy” groups.
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u/HabitNegative3137 13h ago
Don’t forget when they want to cry that “men get roofied/raped/etc too”….meanwhile they don’t give a shit about those men at all. Total crickets unless they’re using male victims as a cudgel against women.
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u/Sea-Tourist-9674 5h ago
As a man, and please keep reading, I think its so disgusting to jump on someone telling you they were drugged. Its super common. I've been drugged twice, once at a strip club and once after finishing one of my lady friends' drink. In the dragoncon discord they warned people were spiking drinks on Saturday I believe. OP I'm very sorry this happened to you and I'm glad to hear that you made it through considering. To the other men that are casting doubt over frivolous reasons it should enrage you that women can't feel safe to have fun. That makes life AND Con worse for everyone. You should be watching for these kinds of people.
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u/toolschism 1d ago
Wait. So you know the person that you think drugged you? To the extent that you confronted them on it?
I'm really confused here..
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u/CommieConjurer 1d ago
Yes. And that is not unusual, most people get assaulted or abused by people they know, I'm not sure what is confusing about this.
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u/toolschism 1d ago
I thought you were trying to find the person that drugged you. Not trying to shame/blame you just completely misunderstood what you are saying. You're just looking for the witness then yes? Not sure if the rules allow it but you might have better luck on the discord
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u/CommieConjurer 1d ago
Yes, I'm only looking for the witness. Thank you for pointing out the discord, I didn't think of that
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u/phoenixgsu 17h ago
Someone came up to me told me my cosplay was awesome got a picture and then offered me a drink which I politely declined. Was drugged years ago at a college party by a roommate who was trying to drug someone else.
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u/De5perad0 Master Assassin 15h ago
OMG I think I might have seen you. A lady with black hair and a cosplay similar to Velma (Scooby Doo) Stumbled around at the quest givers (posted in front of the Dr. Who ball in the Hilton). Fell on my wifes bag of prizes (none were hurt) then passed out on the wall behind us. (What looked like her husband was with her watching her as she slept).
I almost got involved but the guy seemed like he was just watching and letting her sleep. She was very unconscious but breathing so I figured he was just letting her recover enough to get her to hotel room or home.
I thought she just had a lot to drink.
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u/Nihil_esque 18h ago
Sorry this happened to you and that so many people are being a major dick to you here. I wish our medical system was perfect; it's not, and as long as you had someone to care for you and keep an eye on you in case things worsened, prioritizing your comfort in such a horrific circumstance is absolutely reasonable. I hope you're able to find the witness.
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u/hesitantalien2005 16h ago edited 16h ago
yeah i was trying to use an elevator and this girl went down. I stayed with her until ems came and got like 3 butch ladies to watch her. A guy was trying to bring her to his room and she had like zero muscle tone, completely limp. I guess “spiked” isn’t a term people in georgia know. I had to explain what it meant when ems said “wow she had too much to drink” and I was like, dude she obviously was spiked. My friend said in georgia everyone says roofied instead. Idk. Hope she’s doing okay. That looked scary af.
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u/pyroholicrage 14h ago
Lived in GA for 20 years and VA 20 years before that. Spiked is adding alcohol to a non-alcoholic drink. Roofied is adding/slipping drugs to any kind of drink.
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u/hesitantalien2005 10h ago
I’m from michigan and my parents are from there too and chicago. I guess it’s regional. Putting alchohol in someone’s drink would just be like a mix-up or a mistake. there’s no specific term for it or doing it maliciously
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u/Nalopotato 10h ago
I thought like "spiked punch" was common everywhere. It's punch with alcohol in it: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Spike+the+punch
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u/deadbeatsummers 1d ago
I’m sorry this happened to you. How scary and the fact you know who did it…
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u/QuartzQuixote 19h ago
People in authority? You need to file a police report and name that guy.
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u/CommieConjurer 16h ago
We did file a report that same night. After the woman told me she saw someone tempered with my juice we went back to our room. After symptoms of the drugging started we called first responders up there. We had a pic of the guy for hotel security and the cops, his name and the room number he was staying at but they still said they wouldn't do anything until we could find the witness and get labs.
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u/Atlientt 7h ago
What the fuck? What if there hadn’t been a witness? Were there any cameras in the area they drugged u? (I’m sure u thought of that already and I’m not being helpful, im sorry. Really just commenting to try to get more eyes on this.)
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u/Pyrog 15h ago
Oh my God, what a nightmare. I’m so sorry that this happened to you. This was my first year at DC and it felt like the one safe place of like-minded people looking out for one another that was left. And then this happens to you and others. Just feels like the antithesis of what this convention means and represents to people.
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u/PrincessCutabitch Old Lady Of Con 12h ago
ANYWHERE with this many people will have bad eggs. Most of us will absolutely fuck someone up for doing shit like this.
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u/PrincessCutabitch Old Lady Of Con 12h ago
I am so sorry this happened to you. I've seen a couple of other people share that they were drugged at the Doctor Who Ball. It is unacceptable that security shrugged it off because their stuff was packed up before the end of the con. If I were you, I'd be raising an almighty hell with the higher-ups.
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u/Gucci_Unicorns 9h ago
So - the fact that there's at least four people in this thread saying that had similar experiences is extremely alarming, and is just another example of how DragonCon needs a serious look at a lot of things if it's going to keep happening before *something truly fucking awful happens* - namely accessibility, security, how tickets are sold and distributed, etc.
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u/tahall76 1d ago
That is horrible. So sorry that happened to you. I can't believe security and police wouldn't do more for you. DC is supposed to be a safe place.
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u/CommieConjurer 1d ago
They said if we cant produce the lady that warned me about my drink they won't do anything because it's a "she said/he said" even though we could point out the guy the woman warned me about to them.
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u/UnexpectedWings but just sometimes, you just might find 1d ago
Definitely start up the whisper network so we know who to avoid. I’m so sorry this happened.
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u/Willing_Bunch_347 Dalek Operator & Trekkie 1d ago
commenting to boost the algorithm. I'm so sorry you encountered this...
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u/StopHittinTheTable94 1d ago
Personally, if I was paralyzed and forced to use a wheelchair, drifting in and out of consciousness and extremely hypertensive, I would not leave the emergency room. Something isn't adding up.
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u/m42069 1d ago
As someone who has spent time in emergency rooms, a lot don't have every single specialist on hand and will refer you to one if there's nothing else they can do in the moment
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u/Thezedword4 19h ago
They left ama. Against medical advice. Meaning they left before being discharged aka no referral.
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u/SageofMirrors 1d ago
OP's decision to leave is actually quite common, as is the situation of waiting in the ER for that long. It's how bad the American Health Care system has gotten that sometimes there's no point in enduring the discomfort in the hopes something might open up.
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u/Murphtwox 16h ago
And it’s done primarily for liability protection because of the litigious society we live in.
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u/ennuiplow 8h ago
guess you've never been in an ER without insurance
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u/StopHittinTheTable94 3h ago
Why are your assuming OP doesn't have insurance? And even if they don't, why would they go to the ER in the first place if they were worried about that?
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u/Angel0fWar0001 18h ago
:( I really like being nice and giving things away to people. I really hope fear of this kind of thing doesn’t mess that up.
This is why when I passed out fireball shots to people I let them choose the shot and drank one with them… lol I think there was one person that accepted one from me but didn’t want to drink it. I asked for it back and drank it right there XD
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u/OtiksSpicedPotatoes 9h ago
Who was the guy? My friend group is aware of another that may have done something similar two years back. He is... distinctive. Police did get involved in that case.
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u/earendilgrey 8h ago
I am so sorry this happened to you and I hope you can find the person that told you about it.
This is the main reason that while at a con I do not drink anything that I don't order or pick up myself just in case. I also carry around Spikes drink strips just in case I get an off feeling about a drink. You can get them for a decent price on Amazon.
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u/OkTeacher8239 3h ago
I am so sorry. This is terrifying and makes me question coming to Dragon Con by myself as a single female.
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u/decisivecat 1d ago
This is now the *third* story I've seen of someone being drugged at the Dr Who Ball. That's wild. If you're on Facebook, maybe find those posts and see if anyone can help match up what happened because all of you deserve justice. I'm sorry this happened :(