OKLAHOMA CITY — After three deaths in nine months at an eastern Oklahoma drug rehab center with ties to the Church of Scientology, the local sheriff confirmed Wednesday that he has launched an investigation.
Pittsburg County Sheriff Joel Kerns said his office is looking into three deaths at Narconon Arrowhead. The most recent occurred Thursday, when the center's staff found 20-year-old Stacy Dawn Murphy dead in her room.
"She was found with no apparent abrasions or anything of that sort," Kerns said. "No apparent medical conditions."
Kerns said Murphy had recently returned to the center in the small lake-side town of Canadian, about 130 miles east of Oklahoma City, after a visit to her home in Owasso. Kerns said staff at the facility reported she tested positive for drugs after returning, and that investigators are exploring whether she may have overdosed.
The center' director, Gary Smith, said Narconon Arrowhead is fully cooperating with investigators "and will comply with any recommendations that may be made by these agencies."
Narconon uses saunas, vitamins, mild exercise and a special diet in its three-month treatment, which is based on techniques developed by Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.