Mom’s drink was poisoned by stranger at Wyoming bar on New Year’s Eve, family says
A mother spent nearly a week recovering in a hospital after someone poisoned her drink at a Wyoming bar on New Year’s Eve, her family said.
Kailey Kline, 23, told her mother she thought she had gotten “roofied,” meaning someone had spiked her drink with drugs commonly known as a “roofie” — but doctors informed her and her family she had likely ingested something even deadlier, Cowboy State Daily reported.
The hospital wasn’t able to confirm antifreeze in Kline’s bloodstream because her blood was drawn too late after the incident for it to be detected, the outlet reported. However, her body had an “almost immediate response” when hospital staff gave her the antidote for it.
“Doctors believe antifreeze was placed in her drink NYE,” her mother, Amber Espinoza, wrote in an online fundraiser for her daughter’s medical costs. “She began having seizures, couldn’t move, and couldn’t support her own airway.”
Kline’s fiance called 911 and then Espinoza, who works as a traveling nurse in Otto, Wyoming, Cowboy State Daily reported.
“Had it not been for his instincts to call an ambulance, this could have been a very different scenario,” Espinoza said in the final update on the fundraiser.
Up until doctors gave Kline the antidote, “any stimulation” — including trying to wean her from a ventilator — triggered seizures, Espinoza said in updates on the fundraiser. Her potassium and sugar levels dropped while her lactic acid levels rose, indicating possible infection or sepsis.
Kline’s potassium and sugar levels rose and her lactic acid levels normalized after the first dose of Antizol, Espinoza said.
She was able to return home after six days in a hospital in Billings, Montana, KTVQ reported.
She told police someone she didn’t know the person well who handed her the drink in the bar, the station reported. Cody police are investigating but haven’t yet identified a suspect.
This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 4:50 PM.
