OXFORD, Miss. (WMC) - Lafayette County Coroner Glenn Coleman confirms the two Ole Miss students who died were 18 and 20 years old.

The 18-year-old died at a residence hall on campus, and the 20-year-old died at a house off campus.

“We’re startled, kinda mortified about what’s going on around here,” Josh Christian, an Ole Miss parent, told Action News 5.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Greg Thompson, another college parent in Oxford, said. ”It hits home when you realize these are kids that y’know we see around town."

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves issued a statement Wednesday addressing the recent deaths of two University of Mississippi students, confirming that state agencies are stepping in to help expedite the investigation.

First responders were dispatched to Stewart Hall on the Ole Miss campus around 1:30 p.m. Monday for a reported possible overdose. Officials confirmed both students died Monday in separate incidents.

Investigators with the Lafayette County Metro Narcotics Unit emphasized there is no evidence linking the two deaths.

Official causes of death have not been determined, and the identities of the students have not been released.

Reeves said the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics are now assisting Oxford law enforcement to speed up toxicology results.

“Mississippi is praying for the families and friends of the two Ole Miss students during this incredibly difficult time,” Reeves said. “Illegal drugs are a serious problem at colleges and universities throughout the country. They have resulted in tragic outcomes for far too many American families. As a nation, it’s clear that we must do even more to prevent these harmful substances from entering our country and find more effective ways to educate our children about the destruction illegal drugs cause.”
“There has never been a more dangerous time to be a young person in American society. Drug dealers and drug traffickers remain intent on turning a profit, regardless of the damage they leave behind... Mississippi remains committed to putting these criminals behind bars and will do everything it can to stop them.”

During both death investigations, authorities recovered packaged kratom purchased from a retail store.

While kratom mimics opioid effects and is banned in both the City of Oxford and Lafayette County, officials have stressed that it has not been confirmed as a contributing factor in either death, urging the public not to speculate while test results are pending.

On campus, black ribbons now hang outside fraternity houses as classmates mourn the loss of the two students.

Ribbons placed in honor of two Ole Miss students(WMC)

Lisa Thompson says she’d never even heard of kratom before this happened. Her husband, Greg, said the only reason he knew is because he’s a doctor.

He said he has heard about potential drugs stronger than fentanyl threatening the streets of Oxford.

“I think the hard part for any parent is to get your child to understand you cannot trust anything today; you cannot take anything. It doesn’t matter if it looks like an adderall or something, you know, you don’t know what’s in it,” Greg said.

“We’ve had talks with our girls about if someone offers you this or this, or they claim, even if it looks exactly like what they claim it to be, it’s a 90% chance it’s not, and that’s a scary thing you have to talk about with your 11- and eight-year-old,” Christian said.

The university encourages any students in need of grief counseling or support to reach out to the University Counseling Center or UMatter: Student Support & Advocacy.

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