FBI Raids El Cajon Home of Suburban 'Suicide Kit' Seller

Sharlotte Hydorn, the 91-year-old El Cajon woman who has recently made national news for from a postal address on Avocado Boulevard, had her home on Jeri Way raided by FBI agents Wednesday.

Agents arrived in the morning and began gathering evidence, according to Darrell Foxworth, a public information officer for the FBI's San Diego office, as part of an "ongoing investigation." Foxworth could not provide additional information, saying that the warrant had been sealed by the judge who issued it.

Hydorn was first interviewed by The Daily Beast online last month. In that interview, she told the story of how her company, The Gladd Group, sells kits containing a customized plastic bag, medical tubing, instructions on how to use the device, and a book titled, Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide For the Dying by Derek Humphry.

The bag is designed to be hooked up to a helium tank with the tubing by the user, for the purpose of killing oneself. The kits cost $60, and the Daily Beast reported that the Gladd Group had about $98,000 in sales last year.

Two weeks ago, Hydorn told the San Diego Union-Tribune in an interview that she is not 'a death merchant,' claiming that the bags are solely meant to be used by terminally ill people.

“I’m not killing people. This is my chance to try to help them,” she said.

Earlier this month, the state Senate in Oregon voted to crack down on companies selling plastic hoods or other items that could aid in suicide. 

State Sen. Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene) sponsored the legislation after reading about the suicide of Nick Klonoski, whose mother and father are both U.S. district court judges. Klonoski killed himself more than four months ago using one of Hydorn’s kits, which he bought online. Klonoski’s family said at a Senate hearing last month that he was not terminally ill.

Hydorn told the Associated Press  that she faces possible mail fruad charges.

City News Service contributed to this report.