Deaths of Utah 13-Year-Old Boys Blamed on Dangerous Drug Known as ‘Pink’

Officials on Thursday confirmed that two teenage boys in Utah died after overdosing on a dangerous drug known as “pink.”

Ryan Ainsworth and Grant Seaver, both 13, were best friends who were found dead separately two days apart from each other in September, according to local media outlets.

Toxicology tests have determined that the middle school students both died from acute drug intoxication of U-47700, a synthetic opioid that is “extremely toxic, even in small doses,” Park City Police Chief Wade Carpenter said in a statement.

U-47700 often appears as a white powder, although it can also come in liquid form. It has caused at least 17 overdoses and several deaths in the country, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said.

The DEA in September said it planned to temporarily designate U-47700 as a Schedule I controlled substance, which means it has no medicinal use and has a high potential for abuse.