FROM PAIN PILLS TO HEROIN

Former Deputy's Death Leaves Sadness, Shock And Questions

ROCKFORD -- Douglas Quisenberry's road to an unnatural death began with
painkillers and ended with a hot load of heroin in his veins.

Along the way, the former sheriff's deputy suffered family and work
problems, the latter leading to his resignation from the department July
24. He died at Rockford Memorial Hospital on Tuesday morning.

The Winnebago County coroner's office lists the official cause of death as
"cardiac/heroin-related," pending results of toxicology reports. Rockford
detectives want to find out where heroin that helped kill Quisenberry came
from and have kept the death investigation open.

Mourners at the house Quisenberry shared with his daughter, Lindsey, in the
2200 block of Melrose Avenue, declined interview requests. They said
Lindsey wanted to send a message to anyone who would listen.

"She just wants to say he was a special man," said a woman who stood at the
front door while a group of others stood behind the backyard fence.

"He was loved and will be missed."

Living with pain

Quisenberry, 49, landed a job with the Sheriff's Department 10 years ago, a
late start for most people who try to make a career with the department,
but not unheard of.

On his application, he lists three years working for the Rockford Park
District police immediately before his deputy job and before that he was a
truck driver.

Park District Police Chief Jerry Venable said Quisenberry worked part time.
Venable was "totally shocked" when he heard about Quisenberry's death.

"He was not that type of person when he was with us," Venable said. "He
always did a good job for us."

The department assigned Quisenberry to patrol the county's forest
preserves, a solitary job of one-man squad cars that didn't give him much
opportunity to fraternize with other deputies, Deputy Chief Kurt Ditzler said.

Court records show that at this time, Lindsey Quisenberry was busted by
Metro Narcotics for selling ecstasy. Her father bailed her out of jail and
Lindsey eventually moved from her apartment on Haskel Avenue to her
father's home on Melrose Avenue.

Lindsey, 23, pleaded guilty, and in December 2002 was given two years'
probation and ordered to pay more than $6,000 in fines.

In mid-March, the department transferred Quisenberry to the Juvenile
Assessment Center on Rock Drive. That's when his struggles became evident.

"It's supposed to be open until midnight and I'd go by at 11:30 p.m. and
all the lights would be off," Winnebago County Sheriff Dick Meyers said.
"That's when we became suspicious."

The department opened a criminal and internal investigation into
Quisenberry. The criminal investigation resulted in seizure of drug
paraphernalia from the Melrose home but no illicit drugs.

The internal investigation ended in the deputy's resignation.

"For the most part, he had a good work record with us, except for the short
time at the end," Meyers said.

"He was told about the investigation and we talked about him getting help.
Instead, he submitted his resignation."

Trying to help

Quisenberry's death shocked the department. Hardcore drug use among law
enforcement officers is seldom expected.

"I'm sad for the family, sad for those who loved him," Meyers said. "I'm
also angry. There's a reason they call dope 'dope' ... as a law enforcement
officer he knew better, he knows, at least, enough to get help."

Quisenberry simply wrote "personal reasons" on his resignation papers.
Meyers said his final conversation with the former deputy showed a man who
had become an addict.

According to Meyers, Quisenberry said he was taking Vicodin and OxyContin
for back pain. Those prescription drugs — OxyContin earned the street name
"hillbilly heroin" because of its popularity as a recreational drug in
rural communities — led to harder substances.

Meyers said there was no evidence that Quisenberry was anything more than a
user. He said he asked Quisenberry to go through the department's employee
treatment program, but Quisenberry insisted on resigning.

"He said he didn't want to embarrass the department," Meyers said.

Janice Waddel, vice president of marketing at Rosecrance treatment center,
said that with powerful pain killers such as OxyContin, patients don't
always know they've become hooked.

"When it changes from treatment to drug-seeking is a very difficult thing
to determine, especially for the one who is using," Waddel said. "Often
times, they are in denial themselves and it's left up to family and friends
to notice the problem."

Those signs range from emotional despondency and physical deterioration to
changes in peer groups and financial problems.

"The same things we saw here is the same thing parents should look for in
their children or employers should look for in their employees," Meyers said.

"Behavior changes, falling grades or falling performance at work, it's the
same thing."

Quisenberry was cremated Friday.