Two Ole Miss students found dead on same day ‘bought Kratom pills days before’

TWO students found dead in separate incidents at the University of Mississippi had bought Kratom pills days before, investigators believe.

It comes as their cause of death was revealed in court on Friday during a court hearing involving two men accused of selling drugs at a smoke shop near the college’s campus.

The college’s student newspaper identified the undergraduate students as Aidan Hamilton, 18, and Robert Strang, 20.

Both were found dead in separate incidents at the University of Mississippi on September 21.

A defence lawyer for one of the two men accused of selling narcotics told the court one of the students died from a combination of substances, including cough syrup, Action5 News reported .

The other student died from inhalation asphyxiation, meaning breathing in toxic gases, the attorney said.

Aidan was a freshman from Englewood, Colorado, and Robert a junior from Atlanta, .

Investigators say both students had three kratom-related substances in their systems.

They included mitragynine, MGM-15 and MGPI.

Kratom is a supplement sold at stations that’s advertised as an booster and mood lifter but has no legitimate medical use.

Investigators think Aidan bought pills from Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store in Oxford in the days before his death, according to court records.

Robert reportedly bought similar pills from another shop around 20 miles away.

An undercover informant visited the first store, cops said.

A worker there confirmed the store sold the pills and warned them to be careful because people were dying from them, according to an arrest affidavit.

Cops later raided the store and seized around 500 units of kratom and kratom-like products.

They also seized suspected THC products.

A narcotics agent told the court that one of the students had been found dead in a dorm with white foam around his mouth.

They said the second student, found off campus just an hour later, had the same white foam.

Two drug store workers have been hit with federal drug charges linked to the .

The Lafayette County Metro Narcotics team previously stressed they were conducting two separate death investigations, adding “we have no confirmed evidence indicating that the two deaths are connected.”

Authorities said they did “not have confirmed information indicating that kratom or any other substance was a contributing factor in either death.”

Local coroner Glenn Coleman told the Clarion Ledger that autopsies and toxicology tests have been ordered for Hamilton and Strang, and results are expected in two to three weeks.

Kratom, an addictive herbal extract that comes from the leaves of an evergreen tree called Mitragyna speciosa, is legal in parts of Mississippi, but is restricted in Lafayette County.

There have been several reported cases of deaths involving kratom, as it is possible to overdose on it, but typically an overdose happens when it is mixed with other drugs or substances.

Healthcare providers have raised concerns over the use of kratom in recent years as the supplement is not standardized, and therefore the potency can vary between brands and batches.