tonight on "nightline," hidden addictions. eight killed, including four young children. and a mother behind the wheel in a wrong-way accident. was she hiding a deadly secret? tonight, the extreme some people take to conceal their drug and alcohol abuse. pray for rain. a devastating drought has left the lone star state dry as a bone with entire crops wiped out. billions lost and now, a symbol of the american west fighting for survival.

plus, pieces of meat. once a working man's craft, butchers have become symbols with cleavers, grade-a rock stars to the bone, but there's a rub and it's tonight sign of the times. captions paid for by abc, inc. tonight on "nightline," hidden addictions. eight killed, including four young children. and a mother behind the wheel in a wrong-way accident. was she hiding a deadly secret? tonight, the extreme some people take to conceal their drug and alcohol abuse. pray for rain. a devastating drought has left the lone star state dry as a bone with entire crops wiped out. billions lost and now, a symbol of the americast fighting >> good evening, it was a horrific car accident in upstate new york that let eight people dead. at fault a mother who along with her own daughter, three nieces and three men in another vehicle did not survive the crash. and then, came the shocking toxicology report that revealed both alcohol and marijuana in her system.

her widower has consistently denied that his wife had any substance abuse problem at all, but the crash like the death of michael jackson and billy mays has raised the question about hidden addiction as andrea canning now reports. >> it was the car crash that gripped the nation and devastated three families. three weeks ago, diane schuler drove the wrong way down a new york state highway, killing herself and her nieces and nephews and three others in a car. but what makes the circumstances surrounding the crash so bizarre is that schuler had marijuana and the equivalent of ten drinks in her system, a finding that her husband daniel won't accept. >> i go to bed every night knowing my mind is clear. she not an alcoholic. >> and now those affected by the crash wanted to know if schuler was hiding an addiction, if anyone who knew about it could have stopped her.

>> how could other people not know? and these are all questions that my family want to know. want to know the truth. >> but schuler is described by friends and family as a typical suburban mom, a devoted parent with no drinking problem. it's raised the question -- did she have more in common with big stars like michael jackson than anyone could have imagined? ♪ jackson was poised to make a big comeback with 50 sold out performances and doctors gave him a clean bill of health, but what the world and some members of his family didn't know was his alleged addiction to drugs so strong they required medical supervision, usually used by surgeons by anesthesiologists. >> michael would make his mother katherine wait outside the gate three or four hours if he was high on drugs so he could clean up. he didn't want her or his family to s that.

>> give yourselves two -- >> in june, popular tv pitchman billy mays died of heart failure. the autopsy revealed cocaine as a cause of death. >> i would like to see the report. other than that, no comment. that's not billy. >> you have soccer moms who are having a drink and picking up the drugs. >> marilyn white who runs a rehab center in new york says everyone knows someone hiding an addicti addiction. >> whether it's a an uncleor someone you work with, you know someone who has addiction. >> you put the alcohol in the listerine bottle or you drink it if you can't find the alcohol. i'd go to bars and drink on my

own, drink in the car, bathroom where you'll work. you'll drink perfume. i did. >> is it possible to keep an addiction secret or do you feel that someone always knows? >> someone always knows. >> someone always knows but may not recognize the signs. >> look for change in behavior, change in the way they look, ruddy complexion. you know, avoiding, isolation, fears, irrational fears. >> but when an addict is a mother and often the person closest to the problem is a child. was she tryin to hide her addiction from you? >> i think so. you know like at 7 or 8 years old you know it was a scary time. not knowing she'd come home, what time she'd come home, who she would come home with. if she'd come home. i was not a real happy kid. >> for white the hold she had on

her she lied about a pregnancy to go away for a weekend. >> i told these two people that i was preand in and i was -- pregnant and i was going into the city to have an abortion. never had an abortion, i went into the city to drink all weekend. you don't know how sick you are. >> white finally admitted her addiction, and so the accident involving diane schuler brought back memories. >> i had a physical reaction to it, i brought back a lot of memories of myself whens drinking and driving and with my little girl in the car. but by the grace of god i could have been the person who killed everybody and killed my daughter. >> since you have been there in a sense, what would be going through a child's mind moments before a crash like that? seeing a mother out of control.

>> like you're out of control. you can't drive a car. like helplessness. i just thought about the kid that survived, the little boy that survived. man, what he's -- what he has to deal with now and his memories. >> everybody clean and sober since we met last? >> yeah. >> now 35 years after beating her addiction, marilyn white still lives with the guilt, but has found the peace in dealing with others. >> in the first half i was drinking and in the second half i'm dedicated to helping people be sober. that's helped me to heal. >> a little bit of redemption? >> yes. >> diane schuler's family did at mitt that she -- did admit that she did smoke marijuana to help her smoke, but claimed she barely ever touched alcohol. daniel schuler has hired a private investigator to prove

she wasn't drinking. how do you want people to remember your wife? >> she was a perfect wife, outstanding mother, hard worker, reliable, trustworthy. she was awesome. she's the best. >> i'm andrea canning in new jersey. >> an insight into the world of hidden addiction. thanks to andrea conning. when we come back, an epic drought has left texas a dust bowl aiw,anre in peril. man: while looking for his remote, - alex makes an unfortunate discovery. - oh no! if alex had netflix, he'd never pay late fees. and he could even watch some movies instantly on his tv. ( panting ) made it! - exex:: what? - - i'. ( ( ghghs

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t's a new day ♪ texans are all too familiar with dry conditions. but the current drought across much of the lone star state has reached extreme levels. driven by searing heat and record low rain fall. the state is among the top

producers of cattle and livestock and already the prolonged drought has cost more than $3.5 billion. and for many horse owners, it comes at a much more personal cost. as ryan owens now reports. >> their freedom to roam, their quiet strength. in so many ways, horses symbolize the american west. which perhaps explains why it's so heartbreaking to see cisco. >> yeah, hi, pretty boy. >> this horse is obviously very skinny. how bad off is this horse? >> he's bad off and we're worried about him making it. i have seen him come back from rse, but i have seen him better than this. i give him a 50/50 chance. >> unfortunately, jennifer williams knows the odds far too well. she ones the blue bonnet equine human society in texas and that's more than a full-time job. >> i couldn't afford the care for him. >> i understand.

>> cisco's owner called her in desperation a few days ago. >> i can't bathe him. he's lost all this weight. in the last two months. >> lisa willis bought the horse a year ago from the owner who couldn't feed him. >> now i can't feed him. i've got to let him go. >> how does it make you feel? >> very sad. very sad. i wish it wld rain. >> but it hasn't rained here at least not enough to make a difference. so much of texas is in the grip of a 2-year-old drought, one that's no longer measured in burnt pastures, but on the bodies of the majestic creatures. animals that are used to hot, dry summers, but this one is really different. how bad is it? >> doesn't get much worse than this. this is really serious drought for central texas. we haven't seen anything like this since the drought years of the 1950's. the lack of rain, the really hot

temperatures and just on and on. it doesn't seem to end. >> it has left horse rescues across the state full. >> i have never been this full. i never had this people calling and asking for help. >> along with the usual abuse and neglect cases this year has brought something here. >> people are just dumping them off. they don't know what to do with them. i guess they think somebody else will take care of them. or they're desperate. it's a combination of the economy and the drought. i think we can survive the economy of it, without the drought added on to it. >> it's just that there's no horse for the grasses to eat, the solution is simple enough -- buy hay. but the price of the bale has doubled in the last few years and the quality -- >> hay is really dry, it's a bit dusty. which you don't want in the hay. it can cost you several thousand dollars of a shipment of hay. so the drought is hitting humans an hitting horses just as hard. >> the result is too many horses

that look like maverick. >> you can put your fingers between each of the ribs. he was so weak and when the vet pulled blood he passed out. it's hard to believe he's the same horse. he's sleek and shiny and fat now. >> pumpkin wasn't in much better shape. >> looked like a walting skeleton with some hair draped over. >> the vet didn't think he'd make it. now, he's almost ready for adoption. >> he's quite healthy now. this is octave. he is 12 years old, he's a thoroughbred. >> a thoroughbred with barely the strength to stand up a few months ago. he's healthy now, but hisfy future is uncertain. how long until he goes into a home? >> our adoptions are down. so a year ago, a couple of months, and maybe we'd get lucky. it can take up to a year. everything is slow right now.

>> which puts more pressure on the state's horse rescues. at a time when they're saving more animals there are fewer people able to adopt them. >> we're starting to tell people we can't help them or the horse. it's heartbreaking. i fear we'll get worse. even if we get rain at this point, we have only got a couple months of summer left and then we into winter where we won't have grass because it's chilly. summer's normally our busiest time, so i fear the horses will survive so far it will get worse before it gets better. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. >> there are some cases williams just can't turn away. >> i don't know what hit you, all the new horses to visit with. >> cisco falls into that category. he can barely muster the strength to make it into the trailer. >> good boy. we can't always rehab them. there are some so far gone, they

have gone without -- that have gone without food so long that their organs shut down a they lay down. it's amazing what they can survive. it takes a lot of feed and a lot of money to help them pull through. but they can survive some pretty amazing stuff. >> which is certainly the hope for her newest rescue which she is painfully aware will not be her last. i'm ryan owens for "nightline" in valley mills, texas. >> there is a chance of rain forecast for much of texas this weekend and of course, more sustained relief is expected in september. our thanks to ryan owens. when we come back, the surprising new star on the culinary scene. it is tonight's "sign of the times". three people being treated apprximately two out of for depression still have .depression symptoms. (man) i' on an antidepressant, but i'm still not where i want t be with my symptoms.

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now our next story may not be for the vegetarians among you, but for many meat lovers a new sex symbol has emerged from a perfect shoulder of lamb to a scrumptious filet. theutcher is suddenly in. and for sharyn alfonsi, it's "a sign of the times". >> in kitchens across the country, they rule with cleavers. tattooed, muscled forearms. wielding knives. saws. breaking down beef. lamb. pig.

dangerous, primal, and some say hot. and that raw appeal has led some to call butchers like new york chef seamus mullen and she have ryan skeen sex symbols. >> you can see me, i don't think anybody would consider me a sex symbol. >> i think that's cool and everything, but i think more people would be grossed out by someone cutting up a carcass than aroused by it. >> butchers are considered rock stars, their faces in magazine spreads. their names on meat products. finding fame and even groupies. so much interest, that now young men and women, many without any culinary background at all, are trying to beg their way into apprenticeships and old-school

butchers like pat lafrieda. >> we have turned down 40 in the last month of people who want to come in and basically get an internship. >> it is hard work and long hours. >> i don't know how many of those butchers will be butchers next year. probably next year they'll be pastry chefs and then on to the next trend. i mean, to be able to recapitulate and do this the same thing every day and night is difficult. >> and it sends josh ozersky, an unapologetic meat lover, over the edge. >> look at the white, creamy, like little snow caps on a stormy sea, you know? you see that in one of the hip flexors? >> we met up with ozersky from citysearch.com in the prime house restaurant. >> this is like the playbay

mansion for carnivore. >> he thinks it's taking off because of the intense interest in where our food comes from. >> instead of being a unlettered vulagari vulagarina, it's like one who oh, i want to be like him. we have trained ourselves to be beleaped the -- to be behind the scenes suppliers. >> he to make sales calls to restaurants and now the restaurants call him. he sells to 600 new york restaurants, with many boasting the lafrieda name. some people who cite it's a hot profession it's because of the who blades. do you see it at all? >> no. >> you wouldn't get a daniel

day-lewis who happens to own a hammer. a butcher should be fat and ugly because there's more time he'll spend in his shop working on his carcasses like he should be rather than out gallivanting with the hotties. >> if you want to make ozersky's heart swell, talk to this man, frank ott to wh frank ottomanelli, a butcher from four generations. >> show me how big your hands are. >> he is considered a god among the meat elite. a legendary butcher. >> hey, rank, how you doing? >> the hard-working grandfather's eye for meat has inspired praise, but in all his years, he says he has never had a groupie. do you consider yourself a sex symbol? >> i don't know. what do you think? >> of course you are. >> then i am. hey. macho. >> says he doesn't crave

attention. he knows being treated like a piece of meat isn't always a good thing. this is sharyn alfonsi for "nightline" in new york. >> the meat elite, "a sign of the times". our thanks to sharyn alfonsi. when we come back, an 11-year-old puts pea debama on the h seat. it's the subject of tonight's "closing argument."