Mother’s photos of her son taken months apart reveal horrific toll of heroin and meth addiction 

The ‘face of heroin and meth’: Mother shares heartbreaking photos of her drug-addicted son taken just seven months apart revealing his horrific descent from healthy and athletic to gaunt and emaciated

  • Mom Jennifer Salfen-Tracy posted harrowing before and after image of her son
  • Images show Cody Bishop looking healthy, then thin and gaunt just months later
  • Salfen-Tracy describes her son as the ‘face of heroin and meth’ in her viral post
  • Pair have not spoken in weeks and she believes he is living homeless in Las Vegas

A mother has shared heartbreaking pictures of her son showing how he became emaciated and gaunt after spiraling into drug addiction.

Jennifer Salfen-Tracy posted before and after images of Cody Bishop taken just seven months apart.

In the first he is pictured looking athletic and fresh-faced, but in the second image Bishop’s face appears more gaunt and his emaciated body looks much thinner, with track marks from intravenous injecting clearly visible along his lower arms.

The 26-year-old, who previously played high school sports, is almost unrecognizable as his mother describes him as the ‘face of heroin and meth’ in her viral post on Wednesday.

Cody Bishop pictured (above) in an image posted on social media by his mother shows him gaunt and emaciated with track marks along his forearms from heroin addiction 

Salfen-Tracy revealed she had not seen her son in weeks and believes he is deep in a spiral of addiction, probably living on the streets somewhere in Las Vegas. 

The distraught mother, from Wentzville, Missouri, said she decided to share her story because many people in her community has been asking about her eldest son.  

In her social media post that has been shared more than 40,000 times, Salfen-Tracy wrote: ‘These pictures were taken 7 months apart.

‘The face of heroin and meth……is reality for so many people and families in this world today.’

Bishop was an athlete who graduated from Wentzville Holt High School, Missouri, in 2011, according to KSDK. 

His Facebook page states he started a job at All Inclusive Concrete Systems in March.

But Salfen-Tracy revealed that he is now homeless in Las Vegas and she has not heard from him in weeks.

A missing persons page said Bishop had previously been reported missing to Las Vegas Police in May after his family reported concerns for his wellbeing. 

Just seven months earlier 26-year-old Bishop looked healthy and fresh-faced in a 'before' picture his mother posted on Facebook

Just seven months earlier 26-year-old Bishop looked healthy and fresh-faced in a ‘before’ picture his mother posted on Facebook 

She added that Bishop is also a father and finds it difficult to understand how someone who has children ‘who love and need them live the life they do’.

Salfen-Tracy wrote: ‘Cody is still homeless in Las Vegas and I have not heard from him in weeks now.

‘Hearing how bad he is doing is hard but not hearing at all is worse. The unknown is what makes a person not sleep at night.

‘It is hard to understand how someone who has families and children who love and need them live the life they do.

‘I have turned it over to God and pray that he decides he is tired of living like this and wants to come home to get help.

‘Through social media I have came along so many great people that have crossed his path over time through his past rehab.’

Salfen-Tracy added many families suffer in silence with relatives who are addicted and are too afraid to share their experiences.   

Jennifer Salfen-Tracy described her son as the 'face of heroin and meth' in her heartbreaking Facebook post

Jennifer Salfen-Tracy described her son as the ‘face of heroin and meth’ in her heartbreaking Facebook post

She wrote: ‘I am hesitant on sharing but many people ask how things are going so I feel I should share. 

‘I have learned along this path that so many people and families deal with the same heartache but just do not talk about it.

‘This is a true issue in our world today that we need to pull together and focus on to fix instead of the government worrying about and spending all their money on throwing each other under the bus.’

Since her post went viral, Salfen-Tracy said she has received messages from people in the middle looking for help and advice about their own addition. 

She finished her post with a plea for her son to call her, adding: ‘Cody if you see this please call us…we love you!’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk