AUSTIN (KXAN) — The mother of an Austin woman has a warning after she said her daughter might’ve been drugged — but not through her drink.
She thinks someone might’ve also tried to abduct her.
It happened in the Red River Cultural District in downtown Austin over the weekend. According to the woman’s mother, her friend may have saved her life.
On Tuesday, the trauma was evident when KXAN spoke to the woman who said she started acting out of character after two drinks.
She asked KXAN not to identify her. She said she is timid about talking about what she remembers.
“I don’t know,” the woman said with a deep sigh. “We went to one of the places I’m really familiar with, and then I had one drink at the next place and went to the bathroom…from then on out. I don’t know what happened.”
The woman told KXAN’s Jala Washington the night was a blur. Her friend said she saw her trying to get into a rideshare with a stranger, outside a bar in the Red River area.
When they both woke up the next morning, that’s when they realized something might be off.
“We started putting the pieces together,” the woman said.
She and her friend noticed a bruise around a swollen red mark on the woman’s outer forearm and another small bruise that they say looks like someone tried to grab her on the inner forearm. The woman said they think someone injected her with something to drug her.
“My daughter has been really upset… why would somebody intentionally go out to harm her?” the woman’s mother said.
Her mother said her daughter’s friend called her when she saw her daughter getting into the rideshare.
“I said, ‘OK, well just get into the Uber with them and keep me on the phone, put me on speakerphone,” the woman’s mother said.
The mom followed them to their destination, picked them up, and took them home. The next morning, they filed a police report and the woman spoke with a counselor.
KXAN asked the woman why she wanted to share her story.
“I honestly didn’t really want to…I don’t feel like strong or brave or anything. I just feel like it’s the right thing to do,” the woman said. “I would want to do it and maybe prevent this from happening to someone else.”
KXAN reached out to emergency rooms in the area to ask if they’re seeing alleged druggings via injections. This story will be updated when we hear back.
The Austin Police Department said it is investigating the incident.
