05:21 PM MST on Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Arizona Daily Star

Authorities dismissed felony drug charges against two Tucsonans whose abrupt trip to Texas sparked a missing-persons case earlier this month.

Edward F. Haas II and Ashlea R. Husberg, both 23, had been charged with one felony count of possession of a controlled substance after Texas police found them with the painkiller hydrocodone, commonly known as Vicodin.

The felony charges have been dropped, said Sgt. Robert Losoya of the Texas Department of Public Safety in Fort Stockton, where the pair turned up last week after having been reported missing by relatives in Tucson on Aug. 1.

They called on authorities to help find Haas after he failed to pick his 4-year-old son up from day care. Haas' stepfather has said Haas had a prescription for hydrocodone.

The couple also was charged with misdemeanor counts for possessing three other drugs: lidocaine, a local anesthetic; Prevacid, an acid-reflux medication; and bextra, a painkiller for arthritis and menstrual cramps.

Those charges remain, Losoya said.

Haas and Husberg were released from jail after posting bond late Friday.

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©The Arizona Daily Star, 2004