Police: Drug Possibly Tied To 2 Recent Deaths In Mankato
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Mankato authorities are receiving leads as they continue to track down the source of a deadly drug that killed two young people in the past week.
Police say a 17-year-old Mankato West High school junior and a 22-year-old man died after taking the same drug, which they believe is a form of LSD. The drug, commonly called 2-C, was in a blue packet with gold crowns on it.
The victim who attended Makato West has been identified as Chloe Moses. She was found unconscious at a home Saturday and was flown to a Twin Cities hospital. She was removed from life support on Monday.
The second victim, Louis Folson, had a record of minor run-ins with law enforcement, including underage drinking and theft when he was minor.
Police say the two deaths are being treated as separated cases, but the link is that each victim appeared to have taken the same drug.
"We believe this drug to be in a pill form or a powder form and we believe it to be a synthetic LSD or cocaine," Mankato Police Cmdr. Daniel Schisel said. "We are not positive at this time."
Police are now hoping others will turn in samples of the drug at public drug disposal sites.
At Mankato West High School, the news has hit hard.
"Obviously, she had friends there. The staff know her. It was quite a shock," said school psychologist Ginny Nimmo.
Grief counselors have been made available.
"She was like so many kids in our community, which, at the age they are in high school, they think they are invincible, and we always try to work with our students on issues that may cause them risk," Nimmo said.
Police say they do not believe the victims knew each other and while they are treating these as seperate cases they are investigating to see if they got this same drug commonly called 2-C from the same source.