SPECIAL REPORT: Snapchat has been linked to the sale of fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills that have caused the deaths of teens and young adults in at least 15 states.
“It was as easy as ordering a pizza,” says one parent.
14-year-old Alexander Neville had been poisoned by a single counterfeit pill that, according to his toxicology report, contained enough fentanyl to kill four people.
In April 2020, Daniel Puerta-Johnson, 16, had taken just half of what he thought was an OxyContin pill that his dad believes he bought through Snapchat.
Daniel was soon declared brain dead and his parents made the agonizing decision to have Daniel removed from life support.
20-year-old Alexandra Capelouto was home for Christmas break from Arizona State Univ., where she received a full scholarship, when she took a counterfeit pill.
The family later saw that the transaction with the person who apparently sold her the pill had taken place on Snapchat.
In April 2020, 19-year-old Devin Norring was found unconscious in his bed.
The family later learned that he had taken a pill he believed to be Percocet, bought through Snapchat with a friend.
”We are still reporting Snaps from Devin’s dealer a year later,” his family says.
In the early hours of Nov. 15, 2020, 23-year-old Ryan McPherson and his brother, John, both took pills they thought were Percocet and collapsed at their dad’s house.
Kierston Torres-Young and a friend had taken what they thought was Percocet, delivered by a boy they met on Snapchat, as they hung out and watched Netflix.
Shortly afterward, Kierston and her friend both passed out face down. Only her friend could be resuscitated.
Before he died, 13-year-old Luca Manuel had root canal. Afterward he complained about the pain, including to a 19-year-old on Snapchat.
The 19-year-old allegedly offered to sell him a Percocet, his mother says:
“It was not a Percocet … He only had fentanyl in his system.”
On May 8, Dylan Kai Sarantos' mother found him unresponsive.
As an ER nurse, she knew he was already gone.
She would later learn that he’d bought what he thought was ecstasy through a Snapchat dealer. His autopsy report revealed that he’d ingested a deadly dose of fentanyl.
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According to @NBCNews analysis of videos, photos, and interviews with university staff and students, at least 5 of Gaza’s 7 major universities have been destroyed or partially damaged since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
Last March, Iowa police investigated a bomb threat targeting a junior high school.
They determined that the threat was a hoax.
But a detective from the police department had a theory about its possible inspiration: the ‘Libs of TikTok’ account. nbcnews.com/tech/internet/…
Officers and government officials in four other jurisdictions tell @NBCNews they believe the account has sparked threats in their localities with posts that digitally heckle people such as drag performers, LGBTQ teachers and doctors who treat transgender patients.
.@NBCNews identified 33 instances, starting in November 2020, when people or institutions singled out by ‘Libs of TikTok’ later reported threats.
The last time Bettersten Wade saw her son, Dexter — who suffered from mental illness — was March 5, when he walked away from their home with a friend. She reported him missing to Jackson police nine days later.
For months, Bettersten said, she asked police for updates, and officers told her they had no info.
She did her own search, visiting abandoned homes, asking around her neighborhood and posting desperate pleas on Facebook, begging Dexter — or anyone who’d seen him — to call her.
BREAKING: Hamas intentionally targeted elementary schools in Israel, instructed terrorists to seize hostages, move them into Gaza, and to "kill as many people as possible," maps and documents recovered from the bodies of attackers show. nbcnews.com/news/investiga…
One page labeled “Top Secret” outlines a plan of attack for Kfar Sa’ad, saying “Combat unit 1” is directed to “contain the new Da’at school,” while “Combat unit 2” is to “collect hostages,” “search the Bnei Akiva youth center” and “search the old Da’at school.”
Another page labeled “Top Secret Maneuver” describes a plan for Hamas units to secure two sides of Kfar Sa’ad. It says “kills as many as possible” and “capture hostages.” Other orders include surrounding a dining hall and holding hostages in it.
Former U.S. intelligence and military officers say tactics Hamas used in its attack indicate Iran most likely played a significant role in the Hamas attack on Israel.
The media storm came as the world was in the midst of a different pandemic — a novel H1N1 flu — and anti-vaccine activists were on the hunt for vaccine injury stories.
Jenny McCarthy’s group found her and offered a cure – if she would star in an anti-vaccine documentary.
The support didn’t last long. Desiree was outed as a “fake” by the same media organizations that had credulously reported her story. Generation Rescue stopped calling and left her with an anti-vaccine doctor’s $32,000 bill. nbcnews.com/news/us-news/d…