POLICE: NOELLE BUSH FOUND WITH DRUGS

Governor's Daughter In Treatment

MIAMI, Sept. 10 -- A two-gram rock of crack cocaine was found inside the
shoe of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's 25-year-old daughter by workers at the
central Florida rehabilitation center where she is undergoing court-ordered
drug treatment, Orlando police said today.

Noelle Bush was not arrested because witnesses would not give sworn
statements, but the incident is under investigation, according to Orlando
police spokesman Orlando Rolon.

Bush entered a drug treatment program in February, one month after she was
charged with a third-degree felony for allegedly trying to buy the
anti-anxiety drug Xanax with a fake prescription at a drive-through
pharmacy in Tallahassee, the state capital.

She was jailed for three days in July for violating the terms of her
court-ordered treatment program after rehabilitation center workers
discovered that she was carrying prescription pills.

Word of the incident spread Tuesday morning during a chaotic primary
election day in Florida, where Gov. Bush was inundated with complaints
about voting machines not working and alleged voting irregularities.

"This is a private matter as it relates to my daughter and myself and my
wife," Gov. Bush told reporters. "The road to recovery is a rocky one for a
lot of people that have this kind of problem."

A resident at the Center for Drug-Free Living in Orlando, where Noelle Bush
is being treated, called police late Monday evening and told officers that
"the governor's daughter was caught" with drugs, a police report says. In
May, Noelle Bush had requested a transfer to the center, which court
officials in Orange County say has a 75 percent success rate.

When officers arrived at the center, two staff members told them that they
had searched Noelle Bush after several residents complained about her, the
report says. Staff members also told the officers that residents are warned
that they can be searched at any time.

The white rock that staff members found in Noelle Bush's shoe tested
positive for crack cocaine, the report says.

One of the staff members -- Julia Elias -- began writing a statement about
the incident, but tore it up and threw it away after her supervisor --
Wilma Accison -- called and told her not to speak with the police, the
report says. The officers picked up the torn statement and logged it as
evidence.

Later, the program director, Joyce G. Brulon, arrived and told officers
that the center typically handles such incidents in-house, rather than
contacting police, the report states. Brulon's statement was contradicted
by one of her staff members, Sandra J. Williams, who told officers that the
center's policy requires such matters to be referred to the police, the
report says.