OXFORD, Miss.– Two Ole Miss students were found dead near tablets whose labels list an ingredient the federal government recently made illegal, and the product is nowhere to be found on the brand's website.According to court documents, Ole Miss students Aidan Hamilton, 18, and Robert Strang, 20, were discovered dead on Sept.
21, each found near similar packages of kratom or synthetic kratom.Officials noted that Hamilton "could have died due to a Pulmonary Edema," a finding consistent with a drug overdose.
When first responders reached Strang's house near campus, he was found "cold to the touch."Packaging found near both students bears the name Modus, according to court documents.The affidavit describes the tablets as Smax Pseudo-DHM, and lists pseudoindoxyl and MGM-15(DHM) among the ingredients on the pack found near Hamilton.The Drug Enforcement Administration temporarily placed mitragynine pseudoindoxyl in Schedule I on Aug.
26, which bars its sale.A Mississippi law enforcement agent investigating the Ole Miss students' deaths said he believes "pseudoindoxyl" refers to that compound, and lab results confirming the tablets' contents are pending, court documents say.OXFORD MAYOR WARNS KRATOM IS 'ROLLING THE DICE ON DEATH' AS FEARS LINGER OVER OLE MISS DEATHSRobert Strang and Aidan Hamilton in a split image provided by their families.
(Strang family, Kathleen Hamilton/Facebook)Toxicology results, which are still pending, could help determine how Hamilton and Strang died, according to the affidavit.Modus Brand, which has offices in Florida and California, doesn't list the Smax Pseudo Tablets on its website, but says the product is a "next-generation approach to botanical supplements, offering a carefully formulated, high-quality product in a convenient chewable format."While it's unclear if the Smax Pseudo Tablets were once on the Modus website, it's not listed at the moment.In September, Hamilton made multiple purchases at Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store in ...