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KRISTI MERRILL, middle, and her mother, Bryn Barton, right, pose with an unidentified friend with baby Adisyn before Kristi's disappearance. Courtesy photo
Editor’s note — This is part 1 of a two-part story about the disappearance and recovery of Kristi Merrill, a Union Mine graduate.
The story of Kristi Merrill, her disappearance from Carmichael and rescue from a sex trafficking ring in Sacramento, starts as many stories of the seedy underbelly of society do: with death and drugs.
The first death to affect Merrill was of a friend known as Vash, nicknamed after a popular Japanese comic character, who Merrill’s mother Bryn Barton called a life-long friend of her daughter’s, almost a “high school sweetheart.” He succumbed to injuries sustained in Afghanistan during an Army tour after being shipped back to Texas in an attempt to save his life.
Merrill, who was attending Santa Barbara Community College, found out “later than she should have” about her friend’s death, Barton, a secretary for the Department of Justice, said. The death of her close friend hit her hard, leading to a minor drinking problem. After the fall 2005 semester, Merrill returned home.
“Our community picked her up off her feet,” Barton said. “We stopped her drinking.” She was then provided medical and therapeutic assistance.
Meanwhile, another friend, who Barton knew as 26-year-old Tim, began hanging around Barton’s neighborhood park. Tim, described as looking like “something from Peter Pan,” was the product of a protective mother, Barton said. He was on many prescription drugs, she said.
“We took him in. We watched movies, he’d have dinner with us,” Barton said.
Merrill began to suffer from “migraines, cramps and insomnia,” Barton said, and Tim would provide prescription medication from a lunch box he would carry around, thinking he was being helpful. He was the “missing puzzle piece” to Merrill, Barton said, despite his less than legal providing of medication.
But Tim’s mother was becoming distressed at how much time he was spending with Merrill. After an overdose of medication at an apartment Merrill and Tim later shared, Tim returned his mother’s house but later later left to live with other family members. , but Barton would not let him stay at her home, feeling she was not equipped to handle his sensitive needs. Tim moved in with his sister, Barton said, but asked if he could attend church with Merrill and Barton. “The emotional fixation was there,” Barton said.
One day, while Merrill was working at Caffino in Carmichal, she missed a phone call from Tim, begging her meet him in a hotel room, to stay with him for the night. She mistakenly missed the call and, alter that night, Tim committed suicide. Barton said her daughter felt responsible for his death, though she doubted anything Merrill had said would have stopped Tim. Her daughter already felt “vulnerable, with low self-esteem” after the death of Vash and overcoming her drinking, Barton said. “She went sideways on me when (Tim) died.”
Barton enrolled Merrill in a one-year Christian getaway in Bakersfield to help her cope. After a year in the program, Merrill decided to move in with her father, Rob Merrill, and sister, Mindi. While there, however, she was again exposed to opiates. She gave in and used the medication to dull the pain of her loss, Barton said.
Barton, who worried about her daughter, said she would be firm in her “tough love” stance if Merrill came home. When she did, Barton set ground rules: Chief among them, no more drugs. Merrill said she was “‘just done with Placerville,’” Barton said, and while she loved her family, wanted to go back to living with her mother. Barton agreed, and upon seeing her daughter when she came home, thought she was pregnant. A trip to what is now the Shingle Springs Health and Wellness Clinic, run by the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, confirmed her suspicions; her daughter was pregnant.
After the visit, Merrill was put on Sebutex, an alternative to methadone, as methadone had associations with past drug use. After getting group help from Kaiser starting in September of 2010, Barton said they had “the best year of our lives.” After eight weeks, Merrill was behaving more like her old self, before the problems began. When Kaiser changed how therapy was done, Barton paid out-of-pocket to help her daughter. “It’s rare to find such a unique bond with your daughter,” she said. “We are very, very, very close.”
Barton took Merrill to Bi-Valley Clinic in Carmichael, where she did well with treatment. It was here, however, that Barton thinks the sex trafficking ring targeted vulnerable young adults and teens.
Seeing her father and his new girlfriend at the birth of her daughter, Adisyn ”gave Kristi some hope,” Barton said.
After a successful stint with John Daily at Recovery Happens, Barton said the Kaiser insurance kicked in again and Merrill was able to go back to the Kaiser group. “It’s not the drug that’s the problem,” Barton later wrote in an email, “it’s the underlying demons, fears, traumas and PTSD and other similar dual diagnosis issues that makes a person lead to self medicate or relapse.”
After a year, Barton allowed Merrill to have her car back, and allowed her to get a restricted license. She joined a group with Christ Community Church to address the losses of Tim and Vash. And while this helped, it didn’t help with Merrill’s ongoing prescription drug problem. She returned to Bi-Valley. It was here that Merrill met a girl she called Lisa.
The relationship with Lisa would lead Merrill into the world of sex trafficking. The details are sketchy, and Barton said that her daughter has not quite revealed exactly what happened.
Barton was suspicious of Lisa from the start of the relationship. When Merrill would go to visit Lisa, she would not tell Barton exactly where she was going, only the vicinity. From everything Merrill told Barton of Lisa, Lisa sounded like a “classic trafficking victim,” Barton said.
Barton stopped giving gas money to her daughter to go see Lisa. She found out Merrill would panhandle for gas, asking for “just enough gas to get to the next place,” Barton said. “I was led to believe she was boosting,” Barton said, referring to the criminal practice of stealing something from a store and returning it for a refund.
“Was she using again? Was she trying to help Lisa get away, to escape an abusive home?” Barton speculated on the situation, but only knew that her daughter’s ultimate goal was to help Lisa in any way she could, a trait Merrill was known for, sometimes – as in this case – to the detriment of herself.
Barton believes that Merrill and Lisa were approached outside of one of the opiate recovery facilities by someone claiming that they could get the girls a job as a high-end escort or model. They could make money with hardly any effort and quit any time. A common tactic, Barton said, of the sex trafficking industry; say the victim would not be selling their body only to force them into prostitution.
On the night of March 23 Merrill told Barton she would be back at 11 p.m. as she headed out the door. Barton believes her daughter was going to become what she thought was an escort or model — “She would never sell her body,” Barton said — when Merrill disappeared. It would take four stressful months, a relatively new Christian organization dedicated to finding victims of sex trafficking, a private investigator, finding clues in Merrill’s missing car and the help of other prostitutes before Barton would see her daughter again.
Next, in part 2, the hunt for Kristi Merrill succeeds.
The Mountain Democrat does not necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy
Find the MissingAugust 14, 2012 - 3:43 pm
This a very compelling story. God Bless Bryn and Kristi AND THANK YOU Mr MAYER for presenting it Looking forward to Part 2
KateAugust 15, 2012 - 12:26 am
So glad Kristi is safe. Tragic that they would prey on the vulnerable. Look forward to the rest of her story!
TAugust 15, 2012 - 1:26 pm
Glad Kristi is home and hope she is getting her life in order, but it is ridiculous that this passes for journalism. It's a completely unremarkable story of a young woman who mixed with the wrong crowd and made bad decisions. Why are other people being blamed for a grown woman's choices? It's "Lisa," it's "Tim," but it's never Kristi. And why is there only one set of "facts" and one side of the story? Bryn Barton gets to call out places and "bad influences" by name, of course deflecting any personal shortcomings. Journalism means corroborating and fact-checking, not just taking the word of the person who has an incentive in having her version of the facts be the definitive one. I know that the first article you (Cole) wrote on this topic left a lot to be desired and a lot of community members calling for more information, but this piece sounds like the lady next to you at the hair salon shamelessly rambling about her screwed-up family. We all have dirty laundry, but most of us don't get two-part features in our local paper. Here's how I would boil this non-story down to one sentence: "Local girl becomes drug addict and sex worker while embarrassed Christian family does damage control through uncritical community newspaper."
Help Find Kristi MerrillAugust 15, 2012 - 4:04 pm
T- 1) Kristi is not as well as people think, it takes years to recover from this type of trauma. 2) Kristi is not home she is in a safe house/undisclosed location. 3) The Merrill Family is not Christian, that I am aware of. 4) It was Kristi who wanted to be open about the subtance abuse because she wanted others to be aware that those choices can get you into very dangerous places, had we the choice, we would not have discussed it. That shows her courage alone, the sharing of her story, which does include people along the way, many of which I am about ready to personally name by first and last name, who assisted her in that journey. 5) If you go to Help Find Kristi Merrill on FB you see that Bryn Barton often comments on how she did not cope perfectly but we suspect you just desire to deflect off your own dirty laundry and trust me when yours is reported the community will be a safer place. Blessing and the Barton Family who is Christian, will pray for you.
KatyAugust 15, 2012 - 5:15 pm
@T, Kristi's mom has not deflected anything. This article states how and why Kristi had problems. Every addict has their reasons for becoming one and Kristi's is stated here... That makes her and her family very courageous for telling the truth and not simply doing damage control. For Kristi and her mom, you will be in my prayers while you go through this journey. Thank you for being such strong women and giving insight into how she became a victim, I hope many can learn from this and that it saves at least one girl from falling prey to these monsters.
rdAugust 15, 2012 - 6:53 pm
I feel bad for this girl- if she EVER wants a good job, this story will surely deny that.. This isn't news, this isn't a "Christian" help story, its outright libel unless the girl has agreed to have her personal medical and psychological history revealed to all. This will haunt her and inevitably cause regret and as much pysch damage as the sex trafficking. Shame on MT Democrat. Shame on her mother. What goes on the web and in print is permanent. You've basically labeled this distraught and weakened person as a drug addled slut. Good luck to Kristi in EVER finding an employer that wont see this in a background check. Congrats on ruining her life.
carlie maxwellAugust 15, 2012 - 8:16 pm
T, You said it best. You are correct it is rediculous what the papers will print. It is evan more rediculous that everyone els but Kristi is being blamed for problems. We must remember these are Bryn Barton words not Kristi`s. I too have had my share of dirty laundry in my past and plenty of problems that came with it. My problems happend because of no one but MYSELF. My life is amazing now and once again it is because of Myself and the choices iv`e made to cange my life. I am verry confused at why Bryn Barton feels the need to explain her daughters situation so openly in the papers over and over. I have a feeling it is for her own selfish reasons. As if she has some reputation to protect. There is no reason to be embaressed when someone has an addiction problem. I am verry aware that Bryn herself knows all about addiction! As for the Merrill`s some of them are christain and some are catholic. What does it matter? I know one thing is for sure the Merrills are a, caring, loving, tight knit family. I know this because I am a Merrill. Thank you for all your prayers and help to find Kristi. The Merrills are just thankfull Kristi was found and is safe.
Finding Missing on Face BookAugust 16, 2012 - 8:33 am
Maybe telling the whole story will help another family --- But for ALL the facts on how what happened You ALL need to read the web site found of you Google 'Kristi Merrill Found Angelfire" The police could have had her home much quicker but dropped the ball ------ I agree about the story being to much detailed on Kristis Problems - BUT AGAIN it might help another family or girl....... Finding Missing on Face Book - For the way we can stop these atrocities
ShellyAugust 16, 2012 - 8:47 am
This is a horrible situation that Kristi has put HERSELF in, it should be private for her to deal with! She needs love and support from her family, but does not need this to be publicly judged. She needs to heal and then make the conscious choice if she would like to make her story public. My prayers go out to her and her family, I wish them nothing but happiness. It's very sad that her family has blamed everyone but her. They publicly put down the police departments for closing the case, when it is very clear there was no case. Kristi obviously made the decision to do drugs and voluntarily went into prostitution (a life of drugs and abuse) ...therefore there is no case for a " missing person". It is unfortunate that she got caught up in sex trafficking, but what do you expect? Throughout this whole story the police departments did their jobs, it's not there's or anyone else's fault but Kristis. I hope she gets the proper rehabilitation and is able to come back from this tragic mistake. She is a very strong girl:) Good luck kristi!
TAugust 16, 2012 - 12:10 pm
Okay, so visiting your homemade Angelfire site where you troll for Paypal donations does not inform anyone of all the "facts"; it once again treats us all to your version of the facts. I can't believe that the Mountain Democrat is giving this woman a platform. I hope Kristi recovers and gets the help she needs, and that is probably going to include her mother closing her mouth and taking care of her family in private.
WHATAJOKEAugust 16, 2012 - 12:33 pm
This is bull****. If I was kristi, I would get my daughter and myself as far away from Bryn as I could. She obviously wants some attention because she nearly throws her daughter under the bus and backs over her. And than down talks Rob, Kristi's father, who is supports Bryn with financial support only for the sake of his daughter who he loves. And Mindi, who loves her sister unconditionally. Personally, I feel like this was published only for Bryns selfish comfort. Well I have a question Bryn Barton, are you happy? Does this humiliation of your daughter satisfy you? Congratulations. You have completely put your daughter on blast to make you look like the better person. When I am pretty sure you have a track record just like your daughters. Wow. I'm disgusted.
@WHATAJOKEAugust 16, 2012 - 3:49 pm
Well WHATAJOKE must be Mindi Merrill. First, anyone else would not say she loves her sister unconditionally... Because everyone knows that if she did she would have actually done something, anything to help her sister when she was missing. Instead, she has been saying how false this article is all over facebook and that her sister was an addict that was willfully selling her body- while Kristi was missing then after she was rescued. It sounds like Mindi wants all the attention and none for her sister. Hey little girl, how about you stop to doing drugs, and raise your daughter instead of going out and partying and getting into fights. And for the love of God, stop throwing a pity party on the internet!
Online PIAugust 16, 2012 - 9:11 pm
This is for anyone who wants to cause trouble for Kristi and Bryn: We know who you are ----- Mindy Merrill You fool no one with your "I love my Sister BS" THEN POST all the venom you have, It seems your family has some issues BUT whose doesn't - you do nothing to solve them by adding to the conflict If I were you Mindy I would all Dr Phil - then you can tell the whole world about your sister, your mom and dad, BUT they will have a chance to respond... Which is one reason I know you would never do that. RM
Finding MissingAugust 16, 2012 - 9:22 pm
@T If you read the website it asks For anyone with more "facts and proof to contact the webmaster". I will add the facts with proof As far as the donate button on the website - I have nothing to do with the donations I merely posted the link to the PayPal account to which the money goes. I know you will not email from the website contact links because you have no 'FACTS' or proof of what you say - Get some help -------
Finding Missing on Face BookAugust 17, 2012 - 8:22 am
@Shelly "What is clear" is she was being held against her will with threats of harm to her family and daughter - That Ms Head up your A*S is a crime and the police would have acted. @ Mindy - Get some help - you need it more than you know - maybe someone should start a fund for you !!!!!
Seriously Bryn?August 17, 2012 - 11:19 am
Oh my goodness Bryn, we all know this is all you doing this. You blame Mindi for everything that goes wrong with you. And this is NOT Mindi i can promise you that. I am close to mindi, yes. And that is how I can see all the hurtfull things you do to her. You say she didnt do anything to help? That is absoulutely not true, she was pregnant her self, dealing with cancer, DEALING WITH YOU, and still trying her best to find out what happened with kristi. When actually, she was there for you. I see the crap you post on her facebook, one day its "I love you sweetheart." And than another day it's having people send her horrible messages saying how bad of a person she is. Are you effing kidding me? You must be By Polar. Why doesn't Kristi have anything to say? Because she knows your true colors. I wonder why she left in the first place.
Bryn BartonAugust 17, 2012 - 3:57 pm
It appears there is a terribly defensive tone coming out here from those who don't have the facts. I am not perfect, have not been and will never claim to be, I've tried to work with blended families due to the babies being born, etc. However, that being said, it was Kristi who wanted to return to my home calling it a safe place, (better than crow bar nights) and wanted to find some peace. Self medicating pain leads to use and replapse. And for anyone saying different, while those may have been pregnant and had cancer, check out their FB's they appear to be able to make it to dinners, bars, rap concerts, etc. but could never lift a foot to step out to an outreach walk to find Kristi. I am no longer responding to comments after today but I will say this, I and I alone looked for Kristi when everyone else wrote her off, her family, the police, everyone. And where she was found her father was with us and knows. He is a fabulous support, you all should learn from his stepping up instead of asking him every five minutes for a 30k car or 1k of photos or whatever. Let's just say Kristi is safe, our family and it is OUR family, is at peace knowing the exposure is on the way. TJ included so just keep posting. We are officially done. The only attention we desired is to make people aware that bad choices can lead to being held against your will and/or even death. Unless you're one of them, and that would be your family, not mine.
James E.August 17, 2012 - 4:34 pm
How this story made it into the Mt.Democrat resulting in asking for donations is most interesting. Strange and most interesting.
MorrisAugust 17, 2012 - 11:32 pm
In reading about this horrible situation, I was left with two impressions: 1. Joy for the young woman in being safely returned from a dangerous environment and 2. A curious feeling that something just wasn't quite right with the facts as presented. Whatever those facts may or may not be; the most important thing here is the safe return. I guess what has clouded this in my mind is the seemingly odd lack of police involvement. After all, a young woman - a young WHITE woman - (from EDC no less) was sold into slavery and held against her will. She was forced into using deadly drugs and was abused. Does it nit seem odd that there have been no arrests or charges or big raids or even live copter news feeds warning us of this horrible ring of criminals? I mean sure, stuff like this - and worse - happens all the time in those 'other communities' and we see nary a mention as to the value of that victim and the tragedy of her loss. Hardly a blip on the radar most days down in South Sac. But this is EDC. and this victim is white. I'm struggling with why this is news here and not ever there. As well, why these people have not been locked up. I sincerely hope this is not reminiscent of another case with some similarities: Miss Mayella Ewell. It can haunt a person forever. To thine own self be true.
Help Find Kisti MerrillAugust 18, 2012 - 12:20 pm
So Help Find Linnea Lomax can ask for donations but Help find Kristi Merrill who has the added expense of an 18 month old cannot? Hmmm, one sided?
Help Find Kristi MerrillAugust 18, 2012 - 12:23 pm
@ Morris, local police need training, hence Prop 35. If you read up you'll see. And if you ever worked a case, an investigative case, you'd know that cases as large as trafficking rings don't get arrested overnight, it would be in progress while as many girls are safely removed as willing to be removed or can be. Check facts on this growing crime, people are uneducated about it. SAC is # 2 in the nation, not state, but nation. And so far it appears that due to that the FEDS are best equipped to deal with it, from what I see in the news. Google that. Enjoy your day.
Help Find Kristi MerrillAugust 18, 2012 - 12:26 pm
@RD she will not only have a job but be a leader one day in a crime you clearly have no understanding of, she's already been offered jobs to help others and is a well trained hair dresser, so she's destined for GREATER things. Oh how we thank you for your genuine concern however. Be blessed.
Help for KristiAugust 21, 2012 - 11:50 am
I gladly donated --- I live off a SS income but found this story so compelling I ahd to give something Bryn Just ignore the negative people - I found the donation button by googling "Kristi Merrill is missing Angelfire" And that page while a bit hard to read gave ALL the details IN AN UNBIASED presentation ( since there was obviously no other facts or proof provided )