Twin sisters Amanda and Sara Eldritch, who were suffering from a debilitating Obsessive-compulsive disorder, were found fatally shot and authorities suspect a suicide pact.
Back in 2015, the twins became the first people in Colorado to undergo a pioneering surgery to treat their OCD. The procedure is called deep brain stimulation and it's frequently used in Parkinson's patients, but doctors used the surgical therapy for the girls.
The twins became famous after the procedure and at the time, the family said it was a godsend. The girls felt better and were hopeful that they could lead a normal life, uncrippled by their debilitating OCD.
Twin Sisters With OCD Found Dead: Suicide Pact?
On Monday, the Fremont County Sheriff's Office has confirmed that the twin sisters were found dead in a parked vehicle in Cañon City, near a rest area. Both of them had gunshot wounds and Sgt. Megan Richards, the spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office, says that it looks like a suicide pact.
The twins had been struggling with OCD from a young age, and puberty only made things worse. They reportedly tried to take their own lives as adolescents and the disorder became increasingly severe in time.
The surgical procedure from 2015 sparked hope and seemed to make things better, but it could not cure the girls. Their OCD prompted them to take long showers of up to 10 hours or more, wash their hands for 20 minutes or more, use disinfectant on everything, wash their faces with hydrogen peroxide, and use great amounts of rubbing alcohol on anything they touched to disinfect it.
They gradually lost their friends and felt isolated, rarely leaving the house. Whenever they did plan to go outside, they had stop eating and drinking anything hours ahead of leaving the house, to ensure that they would not need to use any public restrooms.
'Huge Improvements' After Deep Brain Stimulation For OCD
Their isolation caused them to be increasingly depressed and deep brain stimulation was their last resort, a desperate attempt at a more normal life. Roughly two years after the procedure, the twins starred in the TV show The Doctors and said they felt "huge improvements."
Their showering and cleaning had dramatically decreased, no longer taking so much of their time, and they left their house more often. They were also trying to spend less time together to break their codependency and reduce their separation anxiety.
It looked like a success story and the girls seemed to be on the right track, which makes their death surprising for some. The main theory now is that it was a suicide pact, but it's yet to be confirmed. Authorities did not offer any additional details at this point.
