Teenage girl dead from counterfeit prescription pills; 2 arrested
By Shain Bergan, Nick Sloan
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CHILLICOTHE, Missouri (KCTV) — Chillicothe police have arrested two people in connection with the death of a teenage girl from ingesting what they say are counterfeit prescription pills.
The issue of counterfeit prescription pills being circulated among people has become a growing problem for local law enforcement, but this is the first known local case of someone dying from counterfeit prescription pills, according to the Chillicothe Police Department.
Emergency crews responded around 11:30 a.m. Sunday to a home on Cherry Street near Ann Street, where a 17-year-old girl was not breathing. She ultimately died.
While investigating her suspicious death, officers found out the girl had ingested counterfeit prescription pills.
“Since the pills are counterfeit, they sometimes contain dangerous amounts of controlled substances, which cause overdosing up to death,” according to a statement released by police. “Officers have recently responded to other incidents of overdosing due to the counterfeit pills. However, the persons did not die.”
Investigators said they were able to find out that a 23-year-old woman gave the girl the pills. That woman has been arrested, and law enforcement are seeking a murder charge against her.
Chillicothe police continued to investigate the incident and counterfeit pill distribution, and teamed up with Livingston County Sheriff’s deputies and Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers. Those agencies executed a search warrant at a home on Polk Street and found more counterfeit pills, along with other controlled substance. A 33-year-old man was arrested out of that search, police said.
Both of the people who were arrested in the case were transported to the Daviess-DeKalb County Regional Jail, where they are being held pending formal charges.
The investigation is ongoing.
Chillicothe police released a PDF link with information about the dangers of counterfeit pills, which started out as problems for larger cities, but have since been distributed into more rural areas.
“We want to educate the citizenry and work together to stop this problem in our area,” according to a statement from Chillicothe police.
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