Erica Buschick relished being a student at Miami University in Ohio, so much so that in her final Facebook post in late November, the 18-year-old gushingly wrote: 'I wanna go to college for the rest of my life.'
Two months to the day after posting the effusive status update, the young woman was discovered dead in her dormitory room at Morris Hall on campus after a night of what university police have described as 'high-risk alcohol consumption'.
An incident report released last week by the Miami University Police Department detailed the chain of events leading up to Buschick’s death, revealing that the 18-year-old had consumed large quantities of champagne and vodka with friends, had taken multiple falls and had to be escorted back to her room because she was unsteady on her feet.
Untimely death: Erica Buschick, a freshman at Miami University in Ohio, died in late January after a night of heavy drinking with friends
Buschick was found lying unresponsive on a bean bag chair in her room at Morris Hall dormitory on campus in Oxford, Ohio, on the morning of January 20
Buschick, a native of Gurnee, Illinois, had just returned to college on the evening of January 19 after spending her winter break at home.
By 10pm that night, according to the incident report released to the college newspaper The Miami Student, the freshman and her roommate began drinking alcohol, polishing off two bottles of champagne between the two of them.
The 25-page report states that Buschick and the other student then filled an empty bottle of Dasani water about halfway with vodka and made their way to a house party at a friend’s apartment off campus.
Silent killer: According to a police report, Erica and her roommate had polished off two bottles of champagne between the two of them, followed by half a bottle of vodka and additional vodka shots at a house party
By 10.45pm, Buschick and her friend drank all of the vodka from the plastic bottle, and their friends then brought out a large bottle of high-end Grey Goose, which they said was filled with cheap vodka.
After 'pregaming' with the vodka, the group headed to Brick Street Bar Uptown to continue partying.
On the walk over, the report states that Buschick fell and was later deemed too drunk to enter the drinking establishment.
A friend then called the girl's roommate, telling her that Buschick needed to be taken home.
Buschick and her roommate eventually got into a cab together and headed back to their dormitory, arriving there sometime after midnight.
The taxi driver who took the two apparently inebriated women to Morris Hall would later tell police that upon exiting the car, Buschick collapsed to the ground face first, leaving her with multiple scrapes.
The 18-year-old was unable to walk without assistance, so her roommate asked the taxi driver to help her to their second-floor room.
Concerned that Buschick might fall again and hit her head, the cabbie said he laid her down on a bean bag chair and told her roommate to look after her.
The roommate fell asleep at around 1am, but not before snapping a photo of Buschick on the bean bag chair, which she posted onto an Instagram account. Police would later delete the image.
RELATED ARTICLES
Tara Palmer-Tomkinson's family reveal she 'died peacefully... 
'My unbearable sorrow': Heartbroken boyfriend reveals why...
Share this article
Share
High hopes dashed: Buschick, an honor student in high school, majored in special education at Miami University and aspired to work with people with intellectual disabilities
Tight-knit bunch: Erica, pictured far left, was the youngest of three sisters. The image above shows Donna and Eric Buschick with their three daughters
When the roommate woke up the next morning, she found Buschick cold to the touch and still lying on the chair in the same position as the night before, which prompted her to call 911.
Police officers were summoned to the dormitory just before 9am on January 20, and Buschick was pronounced dead a short time later.
The Butler County Coroner’s office has not released a toxicology report as of Friday morning, but investigators have suggested that 'high-risk alcohol consumption' most likely contributed to Erica Buschick’s death.
The student’s father, Eric Buschick, told Chicago Tribune he was on his way home from an out-of-state business trip when he got the worst phone call of his life.
‘She was my baby girl,’ the devastated father-of-three said or Erica, adding that while he does not blame anyone for her death, he would like Miami University to take steps in order to make sure that what happened to his daughter would not happen to anyone else.
Miami University President Gregory Crawford said in a statement that he will undertake a ‘holistic assessment’ of the school's effort to curtail binge-drinking among students.
The youngest of three daughters, Erica dreamed of becoming a special education teacher.
Daddy's little girl: Eric Buschick, pictured here next to his youngest daughter, Erica, back in 2013, said he wants her university to take steps in order to curb drinking among students
According to her father, helping people with developmental disables had been her passion from the time she was a student at Warren Township High School, from which she graduated as a member of the National Honor Society.
When she entered Miami University last fall, she declared special education as her major and joined a local chapter of Best Buddies - a volunteer organization helping people with intellectual disabilities.
Erica is survived by her parents, Eric and Donna, and two older sisters, Loren and Danielle.
Two days after Erica's death, Loren Buschick posted an impassioned tribute to her 'extraordinary' baby sister.
‘Erica was not just my little sister, she was my best friend, my other half, my everything,’ she wrote. ‘My world revolved around her. Making her laugh, making her happy and making sure she was succeeding.'
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaKaVrMBwrdGtoJyklWKBc32Rbm1pZ3Okua2xxp5kn6qVqLWurc1mm56ZlGKxsL7MZpmippeaeqW%2ByKeioqaXY7W1ucs%3D