Ecstasy Drug Found in Drowning Victim
Toxicology tests found that an Ojai woman who drowned two weeks ago while boating in San Luis Obispo County had a significant amount of the drug Ecstasy and a small amount of alcohol in her system at the time she died, authorities said Saturday.
Maren India Hale, 18, died Aug. 4 at Lake Nacimiento. Friends said Hale was hanging on to a platform on the back of a boat when she laid her head in the water, let go of the platform and went underwater.
Divers found her body two days later in 35 feet of water. The official cause of death was ruled cardiac arrhythmia, said San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Sgt. C.J. Bell.
“That was the cause but the alcohol and MDMA [Ecstasy] were contributing factors in her death,” Bell said Saturday.
Hale’s mother, Carol Hale, said Saturday she was shocked and saddened by the news. She said she believed her daughter was given the Ecstasy by a group of people who were also camping at the lake.
Ecstasy, also known as methylenedioxy methamphetamine or MDMA, is a so-called designer drug often favored by club-goers at rave parties.
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