"I was half scared to go inside," said Ronald Frederick. "I went in hollering, 'Hey Matt, Hey Matt!' and nobody answered, so I went from the kitchen to the living room and there he was on the couch laying."

Click Here For Methadone Fast Facts

Family members were confused because they said Matt Shilling never showed signs of a drug addition and said he didn't have one.

"He was a great guy -- good son, grandson, brother, uncle, nephew, everybody loved him," Shilling said.

A half-dose of methadone was found in Matt Shilling's pocket. The family knew one of Matt Shilling's friends was getting treatment for heroin addition at an area methadone clinic, and police said his friend likely took the drug home and somehow gave it to Matt Shilling.

Family members said they don't know which clinic the drug came from and said they have had little help getting answers from investigators. But more than anything, they want to see changes so other local families don't suffer the same tragedy.

"I think these clinics need to stop giving these people take-home doses. If they need to go to a methadone clinic, they need to stay in there and keep them there until they're done because this methadone is killing people," Shilling said.

According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, Pennsylvania ranks in the top 10 for methadone-related deaths. The most recent report shows the number of deaths climbed from seven in 1999 to nearly 90 in 2004.

Nationwide, methadone poisoning deaths climbed from close to 800 in 1999 to nearly 4,000 in 2004.

In the Allegheny region, hundreds of residents in Blair Township pare fighting two new methadone clinics that are looking to open up shop in their community. There, local leaders said they can't prevent the clinics from coming, but, like Matt Shilling's family, are hopeful to at least make some changes to how those clinics will operate.

District state Sen. John Eichelberger previously said he believes government needs to address the issue of sites for methadone clinics.

Eichelberger said the state should intervene to establish reasonable guidelines to cover the most basis concerns like some other states already have.

"Two things need to be done that appear to be the methodology for dealing with this issue. One is to restrict the amount of patients that are seen each day so they can (have) closer monitoring. And secondly .... the law needs to require designated drivers," Eichelberger said.

He said the state of Pennsylvania passed methadone clinic regulations in the past but they were struck down by federal courts.

Stay with Channel 6 News and WJACTV.com for continuing coverage.

Previous Stories: February 21, 2008: Blair County Residents Hope To Delay Methadone Clinics' Opening February 21, 2008: Residents Speaking Out Against Methodone Clinics