What happened to Ariel?

Rob Stafford Correspondent • Profile

LAS VEGAS, NEV. - Everyone in this story will agree on one thing: 11-year-old Ariel Botzet was much too young to die. Ariel’s death traumatized the Botzet family even more when they were told the cause of death— homicide.

Rob Stafford, Dateline correspondent:  Can you tell me about the last moment you had with your daughter?

Cheryl Botzet, Ariel's mother:  I was reading her favorite book to her and rubbing her feet, ‘cause she always loved her feet to be rubbed.  And then, later on, they said that they were going to take her off life support.  They helped me put her in my arms so I could hold her one last time.

Ariel’s parents, Cheryl and Randy, say Ariel was the daughter they always wanted.

Randy Botzet, father:  Just looking at her you know life would be better. She had that kind of charm and charisma.

Stafford: Do you remember the day she was born?

Cheryl Botzet:  Yes. It was November 6, 1992. And it was the best thing that ever happened to me.  I finally got the girl that I’d been praying for.

Ariel was a rambunctious little girl, an animal lover with dirty blonde hair and an infectious smile.

Cheryl Botzet:  We hiked, climbed, swimming.  We’re best friends.  Not just mother and daughter, but best friends.

In 1995, when Ariel was 3 years old, her parents learned she was different from other kids.

Stafford: What was the first sign that something was wrong with Ariel?

Cheryl Botzet: I noticed that she was drinking entirely way too much.

Ariel was drinking juice and water, and had an unquenchable thirst. And Cheryl says something else seemed strange: Her daughter developed a Juicy Fruit gum smell on her breath. And then came the day Ariel blacked out.

Randy Botzet:  We were sitting around the table and her eyes rolled up and her lips turned purple and she just wasn’t answering.

Cheryl rushed Ariel to the doctor and after a series of tests, there was a diagnosis:  Ariel had a Type 1 or juvenile diabetes. It meant she’d need constant monitoring and daily insulin injections for the rest of her life.

Stafford:  The doctor says “diabetes.” What’s goes through your mind?

Cheryl Botzet: What is that? I was petrified. I was scared.

She had reason to be. Without careful management, diabetes can lead to blindness, amputations, even death. Within hours, Cheryl got a crash course on how to care for her daughter—several times every day, she’d have to prick Ariel’s finger to test her blood and give her insulin shots.

Stafford: How many shots of insulin do you have to give Ariel a day as she’s growing up?

Cheryl Botzet: It varied from anywhere two, three, sometimes four.

Stafford: What’s it like giving a little kid a shot every day?

Cheryl Botzet: In the beginning, it was very hard.  That’s your baby.  But, you got to do what you got to do to keep your baby well.

Over the years, Ariel seemed to adapt, but the care her chronic illness demanded put a strain on the family.

Cheryl Botzet: It’s not just her or an individual with diabetes.  It affects everybody. 

Stafford: What do you think it did to your marriage?

Cheryl Botzet: I sometimes think it put a big hole in it.

By the time Ariel turned 11 years old, Cheryl and her husband had separated and Ariel was living with her mom.

Ariel seemed fine, living without major complications for eight years. But on a Thursday night, the first week of February 2004, everything changed. Cheryl says that night Ariel seemed to come down with the flu, though she hadn’t lost her usual feistiness.

Cheryl Botzet: She was taking a bath.  And when I went in the bathroom, she had her goggles and her snorkel and my swimsuit ready for me to jump in.

Stafford: Did you have any idea what the next 24 hours were going to be like?

Cheryl Botzet: No.

Cheryl says Ariel’s flu symptoms worsened in the middle of the night and her daughter began to vomit. The next day, Cheryl stayed home from work.

Cheryl Botzet: I got her up and said, “You’re going to the doctor’s.”  And, she fought, argued, screamed about it.  She didn’t want to go.

Stafford:  And, what did you say?

Cheryl Botzet: I said, “You’re going.”

A friend drove them to a clinic called “Quickcare.” But within minutes, the clinic was calling 911.

Paramedics were rushing Ariel to a hospital, as Ariel slipped in and out of consciousness.

Cheryl Botzet: It just didn’t seem like we were getting there fast enough. When we got to the hospital she wasn’t responding. 

By the time Ariel arrived at the hospital, her brain had swelled so much, she had to be put on life support. Doctors couldn’t save her. Three days later, with her parents at her side, Ariel died.

The cause of death: diabetic ketoacidosis— the result of Ariel having high blood sugar and not enough insulin.

Doctors at the hospital tested Ariel and found her blood sugar had been abnormally high, not just at the time she died but surprisingly, in the months leading up to her death. This raised the question: Was Ariel’s death a natural complication from diabetes or something worse? 

Doctors were suspicious and called authorities, and they brought their questions directly to Cheryl.

Cheryl Botzet: I was devastated by the tragedy that had happened and on top of that them questioning me was absurd to me.

Three months later, Cheryl Botzet wasn’t being questioned by public health officials. She was being questioned by homicide detectives, who had searched her home, gathered evidence and reached a stunning conclusion— that Cheryl Botzet wasn’t just a grieving mom— she was a suspect.

According to investigators, Cheryl neglected her daughter so seriously it amounted to a criminal act. The charge was murder.

MORE FROM DATELINE

Dateline Section Front

Mystery at Lost Dog Road Slideshow: Photos in the Bob Duke case When The Smoke Clears   Sneak peek: When The Smoke Clears Slideshow: The Christie Fleming murder Transcript: Dan Brown and Secrets Of The Lost Symbol Through The Pouring Rain In Plain Sight: Jaycee Dugard Timeline: Jaycee Dugard's kidnapping The Michael Jackson Tapes Dateline Section Front   Add Dateline headlines to your news reader: