Former Fox News host Eric Bolling, whose only son died on Sept. 8, recalled the final moments with his son during his first TV interview.
Bolling noted he had not seen any signs of his son’s opioid usage prior to his death.
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“I didn’t see any signs. I knew he was going to the University of Colorado, marijuana is legal in Colorado, not at his age but it’s still legal and very accessible,” Bolling, 54, told Law & Crime Network’s Totally B.S. host Bill Stanton on Friday, sharing that he was last in Colorado with his son, Eric Chase, who was studying economics, in June for Father’s Day.
Six weeks after his death, according to PEOPLE, the Boulder County Coroner in Colorado ruled the 19-year-old’s death an accidental overdose. The post-mortem toxicology report, completed on Sept. 11, revealed Eric Chase had cocaine, marijuana, alprazolam (commonly known as Xanax), and the opioid drugs, fentanyl and cyclopropyl fentanyl, in his system.
“When he was in high school, he drank and sometimes you’d smell some weed in the basement,” the grieving father recalled. “We had a thousand talks about the dangers of hard drugs. A thousand talks. And he’d always say, ‘Dad, I got this. Dad, I got this.’ “
“The last week or so, maybe the last two weeks, his behavior changed pretty dramatically,” Bolling continued. “He was in Colorado, he stayed for the summer, he was supposed to be going to summer school. He dropped out, didn’t tell me. And it was over the span of two weeks, he hooked up with some, you know – the wrong people, who were pushing the wrong stuff on him and it changed his life very quickly.”
Fentanyl, PEOPLE reports, was the same drug that also killed music icons Prince and Tom Petty. The drug is classified as a Schedule II drug by the federal government and its medical uses are typically pain management following surgery or for chronic pain.
“There was no indication. [Eric Chase] had a phenomenal freshman year at Colorado. His grades were fantastic. He came home, he hung out with his old friends, there was nothing that would have said he’s going down the wrong path,” Bolling said.
“I don’t even know. I mean the coroner said it was an opioid, fentanyl overdose that Xanax was laced with it. I don’t know if it was the first time, I don’t know if it was the 10th time. I have no way of knowing. He’s gone. His friends don’t obviously want to talk because they just don’t want to be involved in any of this,” the former anchor stated.
Accordig to PEOPLE, the news of Eric Chase’s death came hours after news broke that Bolling, who anchored Fox News’ Cashin’ In. and also co-hosted Fox News Specialists and The Five, had been removed from his job at Fox News following allegations that he harassed colleagues.
