Californian couple with 'perfect life' found dead side-by-side after drug overdose
A seemingly "perfect" couple who hailed from an affluent area in California were found dead together from suspected drug overdoses by their heartbroken parents.
Adriana Avila found her 23-year-old daughter, Michelle, and her 20-year-old boyfriend, Christian Kent, dead in Michelle's childhood bed, appearing as if they had been hugging each other.
Per The Metro, Michelle's parents have since asserted that there were "zero signs" of any drug problems, and issued a warning that the couple's death "is the proof that what looks perfect, is not perfect".
To the outside eye, the young couple - who had been in a relationship for just over a year - were a "walking advertisement for the perfect Orange County couple". Michelle and Christian were both surfers, who had grown up on the beach, with sun-kissed hair and skin.
Their tragic deaths - which Michelle's parents believe is part of the growing opioid epidemic in the United States - has shocked the community.
While it will take several months for Michelle and Christian's toxicology reports to be completed, Michelle's dad, Paulo, thinks that the couple died of an overdose after speaking to local law enforcement and experts. "
"You’re supposed to care for what God gave you, and she was God’s gift," Paulo told the Orange County Register. "That’s what’s eating me, from inside out. How come I failed? It just destroys me."
The night prior to their deaths - on October 14th - the couple had been at a friend's house party.
They arrived home at just after midnight, according to Michelle's mother. The 23-year-old then reportedly wished her mother goodnight, before laying out her clothes for the next day's 6am shift at a coffee shop in Newport Beach, where she had been working.
According to Paulo, Michelle didn't "party too much", and both her and Christian had been prescribed antibiotics for the flu so they had not been drinking alcohol at the party.
However, when Adriana arrived home from work at 4pm the following day, she found the couple dead in bed.
Michelle and Christian were planning on attending California State University together next year, and they constantly appeared on each other's social media pages: cuddling in bed, kissing, and on trips away together.
A month prior to their untimely passing, Michelle posted a tribute to her boyfriend online. "Waking up next to you is such a good feeling," she stated.
"Like all my worries and problems have drifted far away, and the only thing that matters is being in your arms and enjoying the moment as much as I can, because I know it won’t last."
The Orange County Health Agency has found that there was an 88 per cent rise in drug overdose deaths between the years 2000 and 2015.
Michelle and Christian's tragic deaths only serve to highlight this worrying endemic.