Reports identified Ole Miss students Robert Strang, 20, and Aidan Hamilton, 18, who died Sept. 21. Investigators have not said whether the deaths are connected. Packaged kratom was found in both cases; authorities have not confirmed whether it or another substance contributed.
Hamilton, a freshman from Englewood, Colorado, was found at Stewart Hall; Strang, a junior from Atlanta, was found at an off-campus home on Van Buren Avenue. The Lafayette County Metro Narcotics Unit is investigating. Authorities told Fox News Digital that foul play had not been ruled out. The county coroner said autopsies and toxicology tests had been ordered for both; toxicology results were expected in two to three weeks.
The narcotics unit said the packaged kratom was purchased from a retail store; Lafayette County has prohibited kratom since 2021. In a Sept. 22 campus message, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Shawnboda Mead said university police were not aware of any additional student deaths amid unverified social-media claims and urged people not to speculate.
