BUTTE — A 17-year old boy died and four other teens were hospitalized after overdosing on synthetic drugs last week in Jefferson County.
Butte Sheriff Ed Lester reports the group of teens ingested MDMA, also known as Molly, and two other forms of psychedelic drugs, while at Delmoe Lake on Tuesday, August 23, 2022
The 17-year-old boy, identified as Tobias Boucher, was first taken to St. James HealthCare in Butte, then to another hospital where he died on Friday, according to Sheriff Lester.
The four other boys - all between the ages of 15 and 16 - were treated and released from the Butte hospital.
Sheriff Lester said all five teens are from Butte.
Dylan Steel said he’s just trying to remember the good things about his younger brother Tobias: “Oh, I remember his beautiful blue eyes, I’ll never forget those eyes, and he had this goofy, little crooked smile and when he would dance he really would dance like no one was watching."
Steel identified his younger brother as Tobias Boucher. He doesn’t want this tragedy to happen to other teens: “I don’t want people to think that this poison, that this evil is limited to people out on the streets or people in bad situations, because it doesn’t care. It’s ruthless, it’s vile and it can happen to anyone."
Butte Sheriff Ed Lester says the young age of the victim makes this even more of a tragedy.
“It turns my stomach, quite honestly, to realize these kids were together planning to have a good time, probably an end-of-the-summer type situation, and were in over the heads, didn’t realize what they’re up against and now their lives are changed forever and one of our children from Butte is dead,” said Lester.
He said that police normally don’t see overdose deaths associated with these types of drugs.
Authorities have not released any other details, including where and how the teens may have obtained the drugs.
Investigators are awaiting a toxicology test on all the victims from the Montana State Crime Lab and the investigation is continuing.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Det. Sgt. Brian Sullivan at 406-497-1173.
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