Murdered. It definitely seemed to be personal. Their bodies found in their home along with a lifetime of curiosities. I remember seeing bayonets and cannonballs and all kinds of stuff. Was there any connection between the memorabilia and the murder . Did you ever wonder about that stuff there . It was time for police to start collecting suspects. Who was going to benefit by these two deaths . Jessica was the only child. The sole heir . The sole heir. Was there someone else who stood to gain . It was by far the most important piece of evidence in the case. The clue that would reveal a mind blowing betrayal. I dont know how someone could have predicted this. But first, a very different kind of dateline mystery. One every family needs to see. She was a rare gem to have as a friend. With her. A bright and beautiful teen invites a friend to sleep over. The next morning, shes dead. Oh, my god, i dont feel a pulse. What in the world happened . How could this be . It turned out this was no ordinary slumber party. We know from their phones that this was a planned event. They had discussed it. They took pictures. Stories surfacing of a dangerous experiment. The main purpose of having this involvement was to try it. An experiment that just might tempt other teens. We know its entered our high school. Why the clues in this mystery could save a life in your family. You have a lot of people watching dateline. They need to talk to their kids. Im lester holt. This is dateline. Here is kate snow with one small dose. Theyre killing our kids. And we need to do something about it. Reporter its a new threat. She was saying, erin, your and she kept yelling that over and over. Reporter and these teens found out about it the hard way. It is kind of made out to seem like one of those youre not really gonna see it in your life kind of drug. Reporter theyre called synthetic drugs, and they are cheap, dangerous, easy to get, and often marketed specifically to young people. Something this deadly in this small of a dose had entered our high school, not just our community, but our kids. Reporter you may not have heard of them, but Law Enforcement agencies across the country have, and theyre sounding the alarm. It is a gamble every time. A kid gets a hold of one of these things, theyre gambling. Except theyre gambling with their life. Reporter and theres no better way to understand that lifethreatening gamble than the story of 17yearold Tara Fitzgerald. Oh, my god, she her lips are blue and and i dont i dont feel a pulse. I dont feel a pulse. Parent wants to hear, but this mom and dad feel compelled to share. It seemed surreal. Unbelievable. Unimaginable. Reporter Tara Fitzgerald was no typical teenager. At least thats what her closest friends say. She looked at the world so much deeper and with so much more meaning than anyone that i have met. Reporter most people were worried about prom dresses and she was worried about what kinds of things . She was very philosophical. She wanted to she wanted to know how the world worked and how the universe worked and how god worked. Id consider her an old soul. Such an old soul. Yeah. [ laughter ] reporter but tara also had a lighter, more carefree side. Quirky is the key word when it comes to tara. cause she she did have kind of a different sense of humor, and it she knew how to make she liked to make faces. And her and her friends would just act goofy sometimes and they they enjoyed that. Reporter she lived with her parents, tom and mai, and her little sister in the quiet suburban city of woodbury, minnesota, not far from the twin cities. Tara was a really energetic kid from a very young age. Reporter according to her dad, she was a bit of a daredevil. Yes, i got it. She liked to do skateboarding and the climbing walls. Shed do the tubing. Reporter on the back of a boat . Yeah, on the back of the boat. cause we had the cabin. And she would just be a daredevil on that. She liked going and and just kind of taking risks and stuff. Reporter but her family and friends agree, taras greatest passions were drawing and music. She had a pretty decent sized basement. And so shed play music down there a lot. And she and i would go down i just did it. I just did it. She was playing guitar a lot, and she was getting into music. A lot of the classic 70s stuff, the beatles, lynyrd skynyrd. Huge, huge huge oasis fan. Reporter yet, none of that got in the way of school. Her mother, mai, says tara was a bright honor roll student who loved to learn. She would read books four or five books at once. And she was sitting eating dinner, and, you know, reading book at the same time. Reporter youd have to tell her to take the book away from the table . Yeah, right. But a lot of times, like, how could you yell at a kid when they read a book . Yeah. Reporter smart kid, tom . Yes, she was a smart kid. Science just came easily for her. Reporter and when she aced her a. C. T College Admissions exam, tara was over the moon. She loved to rub it in and brag. Im pretty sure she texted me in all capital letters, like, throughout our whole conversation, oh my gosh, look what i got. [ laughter ] i didnt even study. 2014, and to celebrate her score and good grades, tara asked if she could have a friday night sleepover. At that time i was so happy. Reporter cant turn her down. So she yeah, i cant turn her down. So i say, sure. Reporter and the girl that came over was somebody you knew . You know, we didnt know her as well as as her clo close core of girlfriends. But tara knew her pretty well. And they would just sit there and watch scary movies or whatever and chat and talk. And eat junk food. It made me feel very secure knowing that they were in in the lower level of our home and hanging out together where they had some space from us and yet theyre safe. Reporter but there was something some of taras friends knew, that her parents didnt. Tara was planning to experiment that night with lsd. The main purpose of having the sleepover was to try it. To try the drug. Reporter to try lsd . Uhhuh. Reporter taras friends say their group, including tara, didnt usually drink or do drugs. As far as, like, you know, alcohol wasnt really something that was like her. Reporter but still, this was high school, and they werent exactly shocked that tara wanted to try something illegal. I told her, thats a stupid idea. Reporter and you left it at that . Yeah. And she didnt really wanna be talked out of it. I think everyone kinda knew it was kind of a bucket list type thing for her. I mean, she was really into the beatles and they obviously talk about that kind of thing in their songs. Reporter that weekend started like so many for teenagers. Taras friend came over for their friday night sleepover and the two girls spent the night doing their own thing in the basement. I could hear the girls down there laughing. And and but i didnt want to go down there and talk to them. And i just wanted to leave them alone. Reporter invade their privacy . Yeah. Reporter the next morning tom and mai let the girls sleep in and quietly left the house for a basketball game with taras little sister. They assumed everything was fine at the house, until they got a frantic call. It was the mother of the friend whod slept over. Was at our house and that they couldnt wake tara up. Reporter they couldnt wake her up . Right. And then, she said, she something about, i think shes shes taken some some drug or something. And i was, like, what . You cant wake her up . I said, call 911. And i immediately got off the phone and grabbed mai and we shot out the door to go for home. Reporter drugs . They couldnt fathom it. But taras parents, as well as their whole community, were about to get an unwelcome education. I never wouldve thought that shed take anything. Never in a million years. What exactly had happened to tara . Investigators were about to uncover some disturbing clues. We know from their phones that this was a planned event. They had discussed it. They took pictures. When we come back, what those ba da ba ba ba dont drop your phone, drop your network. Bring your phone to cricket wireless. We have more 4g lte coverage nationwide than tmobile or sprint. Cricket wireless. Something to smile about. Meet the matte with vivid impact. New vivid matte liquid lip color from Maybelline New York. Now lips go vivid with. Super saturated color new sensuous feel drench your lips in vivid matte. Maybellines vivid matte liquid make it happen Maybelline New York forget about the cowboy walk because of a saggy diaper it s time to dance freely thanks to new pampers cruisers the first and only diaper that. Evenly into three t sag and stays dryer so wiggle it and jiggle it in new pampers cruisers. Wishing you love, sleep and play. Run away with me what will you be able to do in a Jeep Renegade . Lost souls in revelry pretty much anything you want. And i said hey, hey hey hey living like we re renegades the most capable small suv ever. With available selecterrain traction control that can be adjusted to take on mud, sand or snow. Get 0 apr financing for well qualified buyers plus 500 bonus cash on 2015 the sun rose on a cold, midwestern morning and tom and Mai Fitzgerald were facing the what in the world happened . How how could this be . They were at an Early Morning basketball game with their youngest child when they got a terrifying phone call from a fellow parent who was at their home. She said their 17 old daughter, tara, was lying unresponsive in the basement. Tom told her to call 911. Oh my god she, her lips are blue and, and i dont. I dont feel a pulse. I dont feel a pulse. Correct. Okay. Umm, try to shake her and shout are you okay . does she respond . Are tara are you okay. Are you alright tara . Are you okay sweetie . Nothing. Nothing. Tara are you okay . Tom and mai raced home to find their house surrounded. Just a lot of cops car and ambulance. I was prayin. And the paramedics were working on her, trying to get her to breathe. I talked to her. Please tara. You know, come back, and tryin they put her in the ambulance, took her to the hospital. Then i went. Mai was just inconsolable, so i had to just leave. I i went by myself and i drove to the hospital. So i was in i was in there with her whe and the doctors doctors worked tirelessly for almost half an hour to save tara and then they had to stop. Wasnt gonna happen, so they were gonna stop their efforts. Yeah, i dont know. I was in shock i went and laid on her and cried it seemed surreal. Unbelievable. Its a terrible story to hear on tv, a tragedy. You never thought it could happen. Not in a million years. You never think that would happen. And so, when it happens, you dont believe it. No. Taras friends knew she was planning to take lsd that night. But it never occurred to them that she could die. She assured me, its not dangerous. And and i didnt know anything about it. And so i assumed that she must be doing her research on it. Mai called them to break the news. She was really hysterical. Friend died. And she kept yelling that over and over. Oh, my god. What did you do . I was just so shocked. And it was it was, like, so hard to process, like, what that meant. My First Response was, are you kidding . Because it didnt feel real yet. Um. But then it was like everything kind of hit at once. And it was all just everything fell apart. Investigators were surprised too but by Something Else. Commander Brian Mueller is the head of the local Drug Task Force. When he heard tara overdosed on lsd, it just didnt add up. We dont see that with lsdrelated drugs. Lsdalso known as acidwas created by a Research Chemist back in the 30s and has been studied for decades. Much is known about its effects. And in muellers experience, he knows lsd can trigger deadly behavior. Somebody jumps out a window or acts out because of the lsd . Absolutely. Yeah. Injures themselves or gets in a fight or yeah jumps out a but the drug itself is not usually deadly. An lsd overdose typically isnt gonna happen in our experience. And so, our concern at that time is immediately what was ingested, you know, was that the cause of her death and is there anymore out there . Even taras grief stricken father was perplexed. When i heard acid, i thought i had never heard about anybody overdosing from acid. So it seemed really peculiar. I mean this is some of the things that were running through my mind. And another question if tara and her friend both took the drug, why did one girl live and the other die . Michelle frascone was the lead detective. How do you explain that . Terrifying. I mean, that is something we had to look at. Why do we have one thats able to communicate with us a few hours later, sittin in an interview room, and we have one thats going to autopsy . Our first thing was to talk to quite a bit of information from that evening, at least a decent timeline. We did phone forensics immediately. What did that tell you about what happened after midnight . We know from their phones that this was a planned event. They had discussed it. They took pictures. This is a photo of tara, taken just moments after she took the drug. And thats what an actual lsd tab looks like. It was unclear to detectives whether those are two tabs or one tab that came apart. The reason they had selected the night of the 10th was because taras parents were gonna be gone in the morning for a sporting event for her sister. And, so, this was gonna give them time to recover. Tara and her friend had planned it all out, even arranging to have another friend on standby to call, in case something went wrong. And as teenagers do, they had their phones out taking photos and videos. This is some of the video the video showed investigators how the night went from a fun, giggly high how do you feel tara . Mm. To this tara lying unresponsive on the basement floor. She was in serious trouble, but her friend never woke taras parents who were right upstairs, and she never called 911. But she did call the friend whod agreed to help in an emergency and she sped right over it sounds like she comes in through a window. Somethings not right with tara. Shes not communicating anymore. Shes not talking to em. And this trip sitter who comes says, i sit with her on the floor. I, you know, rub her hair. I just hope its all gonna go away. Does she stay . She stays for a bit of time. And ultimately says the reason for leaving is, well, one, she had to get a car home. But secondly, she just it was too freaky. Too freaky . Deal with it. The friend sleeping over wrote this heartbreaking note towards the end of the night. Dear tara, this is the worst night of our life. And it still isnt over. Love, the friend. How do the friends explain not calling for help . What did they say to you . They simply say they didnt wanna get in trouble. They didnt want their parents to be upset or disappointed. These were a honor roll students. And they thought they could wait it out . Right. Because the teenagers didnt think lsd was all that dangerous, let alone deadly. She assumed that it was genuine lsd. And she must have read somewhere that you you cant overdose on genuine lsd. And the police were thinking along those same lines it couldnt have been lsd. Tara had to have taken Something Else. We have to figure out where it came from, what it is, is it illegal. Woodbury police now had a mystery to solve, and a deadly coming up investigators also want to find out who gave tara got the drug that killed her. Now they, and her family, are in for a huge surprise. I was like, what the are you kidding me . What is going on here . How can this be . When dateline continues. Im not peeking my flight. Im peeking my. Wait, i missed my flight. Owl photos. Desert photos. Photos of. Dolphins a highstepping man. Pizza gifs. Its all faster with 3d touch on iphone 6s. Whatcha doin . Just prepping for my boss party in a couple weeks. What are those . Crest whitestrips. They whiten way better than paste. Crest 3d white whitestrips. Whiten 25 times better than the leading whitening toothpaste. Id say. Someones making quite an impression. Crest 3d white whitestrips. Shopping for an suv . Well, this is the time. And your ford dealer is the place, to get 0 financing for 60 months on a ford suv. Thats right. Just announced. Ford explorer. Edge. Escape. And expedition. Are available with 0 financing for 60 months. Ford suvs. Designed to help you be unstoppable. No wonder ford is americas best selling brand. But hurry, 0 financing for 60 months on ford suvs is a limited time offer. I need new carpet. Ok. I have two dogs. And a husband. House trained . My husband . No, the dogs. Sometimes. Id suggest stainmaster pet protect carpet. Why . Incredibly durable and stain resistant. Thats why they call it master its. I got it. Now get free basic installation with purchase of stainmaster carpet and pad, reporter the woodbury, Minnesota Police department was dose of a drug killed 17yearold Tara Fitzgerald. Tara thought she was taking lsd but the local Drug Task Force team suspected shed taken Something Else. Were pretty sure its some type of synthetic drug, either that weve heard about or dont know about. A synthetic drug . Yes. Reporter the term synthetic drugs refers to a new class of narcotics developed in just the last seven years. They are made from chemicals that can be unpredictable and are sometimes sold masquerading as other better known drugs. Taras case was the First Time Police in this suburb were dealing with a synthetic drug death. And taras friends say they knew little, if anything about this new class of drugs. I know in our health class, which all High Schoolers are required to take, they do speak of synthetic drugs. But it is kind of made out to seem like one of those youre not really gonna see it in your life kind of drugs. Are there lots of drugs in it was casual to hear about marijuana and alcohol in our grade or in our high school. But then you get up into the higher, more dangerous drugs, we wouldnt hear really hear about that. So at parties, would people be theyd be smoking pot, right . Yeah. It was drinking . Uhhuh. Anything more than that . No. If people were going to do anything more than that it usually would have been something that was a little bit more private. We were absolutely terrified. Our biggest fear as a Police Department and as a community, as that something this deadly in this small of a dose had entered our high school, not just our community, but our kids. Reporter investigators First Priority was locating the drugs and getting them off the street. That meant finding the person who sold them to tara. A search through her Text Messages pointed to one name. So, youre able right away to figure out, heres the person that heres the next person. Yup. Gave it to tara . And who was that . Brian norlander. And who is he . To us. Reporter brian was a high school junior, honors student, Football Player and a close of friend of taras. Never been in trouble before . Never been in trouble. Never been in trouble before. Reporter yet somehow, brian was mixed up in a drug deal. Text messages told police hed sold tara the tabs for ten dollars each. So, you need to find brian right away . We need to find brian. Reporter it was saturday afternoon just hours after tara died and her friends were gathered at her home. I remember walking in and seeing mai on the couch and hearing her scream. And the atmosphere was just tense and everyone was absolutely heartbroken. Reporter two of taras friends knew that brian sold her the drug and texted him to meet. But they didnt know police were looking for him too. He lived by tara. So me and erin walked and he the street and just went into his car to tell him what had happened. So you guys are walking from up there, right . Uhhuh. And brian is driving a car. Yeah brian drove up to here. Yeah. And we were walking from that way. Reporter sitting in the car, they told brian what happened. I mean he had to deal with losing his friend on top of thinking, i gave her that drug. So i think it was so much for him to take in all at once so we just kind of all sat in silence. Reporter but the silence was broken when a car pulled up and someone approached the window. It was the police. What happens . Tells brian to get out of the car, erin . Car. So then we all stepped out of the car. Another officer asked jessie and i to put our hands in the back of the car. They took our information and took our phones cause everything. Your cell phones . Yeah. So youre watching brian be handcuffed . Yeah. Reporter down at the station, brian admitted right drugs to tara. And he was clearly distraught. I didnt want to kill her. You didnt want to kill her . No [ crying ] was brian a drug user, a drug dealer . Was this something he did regularly . Not that we believe. Reporter brian said the drug deal was a onetime thing. Something hed done as a favor for his friend tara. Do you know what kind of drug it was . Yup. What was it . Lsd. Okay. And is it actually lsd, as far as you know, or is it somethin else . Im fairly positive it is. Ok. Reporter brian was reluctant to say where he got it. But eventually he gave police a name. Who is Alistair Berg . A friend of mine. Reporter officers went right out to find him. They questioned alistair at his home where he confessed to selling brian the drugs, but said he was no drug dealer either. Yet another Woodbury High School student sydney johnson. This is becoming even more concerning for Law Enforcement. Because we have not made it out of the high school yet. Who are these kids that were talking about . Theyre good kids. Theyve never been in trouble with the law. Theyve never been in trouble at school. For the majority of them, straight as honor society, honor roll kids. Reporter and now they were all in serious trouble. Taras parents were stunned when they heard where the Police Investigation was going. I was like, what the are you kidding me . Brian norlander was the one that gave this to her . How what is going on here . How can this be . Your whole world is being turned upside down. Shaken . Turned upside down completely. I he would be the last person in the world that i wouldve imagined that she wouldve gotten something from. Responsible kid . Very responsible, very good influence. And he he is smart kid. Reporter it was that third student from the high School Sydney johnson who gave police information. A first name and cell phone number of a local dealer. He had a girlfriend who went to woodbury high. Cole is the lead weve been waiting for. We have an adult. We have a drug dealer. We have the connection to the high school. We have the statements up to cole. Reporter the next day, 18yearold Cole Matenaer was arrested with more than thirty doses of the same drug tara took. Ready to be sold. So, hes got more of the stuff. Hes peddling it. Hes selling it. Not only does he have more of the stuff, he has more of the stuff knowing that someone has already died in our community. Reporter detectives later sat down with cole and his attorney, and cole confirmed what authorities already suspected. He was lying to his clients, telling them the drugs were lsd because he knew they wouldnt want synthetics. Because people dont like that stuff. They think its, Reporter Police were about to find out exactly what killed Tara Fitzgerald and discover that it was a problem that went way beyond their quiet suburb. Coming up. Many synthetic drugs are packaged to seem completely harmless. But theyre not regulated, theyre not consistent, theyre not safe. On our bodies. 90 days juggling hectic schedules. 40 heavy comfort meals. Systems can act up. Enjoying activia twice a day for two weeks may help reduce digestive issues. Right when you feel a cold sore, abreva can heal it in as few as two and a half days when used at the first sign. Without it the virus spreads from cell to cell. Only abreva penetrates deep and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. You could heal your cold sore, fast, as fast as two and a half days when used at the first sign. Learn how abreva starts to work immediately at abreva. Com dont tough it out, knock it out, fast. Reporter after weeks of speculation, Woodbury Police finally confirmed that the drug 17yearold Tara Fitzgerald had taken was really a deadly synthetic drug. People are generally just purporting it to be acid . I need acid, i go buy acid. Reporter cole matanaer was the local dealer who supplied the drugs to students at woodbury high. He admitted to police the tabs he was selling as lsd were really a synthetic drug called 25i. Because people dont like that stuff. They think its they know its bad, you know . But you know its 25i. Yeah. Had you ever heard of it before . Never. We had never dealt with it before. Reporter 25i is a new chemical that was only made illegal in the u. S. Two months before tara died. It can cause hallucinations, like lsd. But in taras case it also led to seizures, respiratory distress and ultimately cardiac arrest. It sometimes goes by the street name, nbomb or smiles. And detectives were about to show us the doses theyd seized in taras case. Wait, thats thats the drug . On that little tiny pink piece of paper . Its smaller than my pinky fingernail. Reporter typically packaged in tiny pieces of tinfoil, it almost looks like trash. But inside, the drugs are so potent, investigators have to handle them with gloves. The reason that detective frascone and i are wearing gloves is if you touch that you could absorb that and become that the drug in there the drug could get in your system . Could affect you just simply by absorption. Reporter and when you take a closer look, its easy to see how some tabs could be stronger than others. Theres no way of knowing the amount of drug on this tab here, and this individual tab here. They all look different. How would anybody know what theyre getting . That is the biggest problem and our biggest concern is that this whole process is so unscientific. Reporter its a problem thats become a National Concern as well. Across the country, the Drug Enforcement administration has seen an increased number of cases involving synthetic drug sales, overdoses and deaths. We paid a visit to a nondescript security. Its the deas research and testing lab where we met with supervisory chemist, jill head. A growing epidemic when it comes i would say that we are. Reporter this dea lab has analyzed and identified more than four hundred different types of synthetic drugs seized in the u. S. Most of these chemicals have one thing in common, theyve been manufactured for the sole purpose of creating a cheap, recreational high. This one is the base chemical that tara ingested. In this vial is 25i. Is it just a powder . It is a powder. Reporter when dissolved into a liquid, the 25i is soaked or eye dropped onto perforated paper to create doses that look just like lsd tabs. It looks very similar to lsd. Its dosed in levels that are very similar to lsd. It is not chemically like lsd. Reporter a drop of 25i is far stronger than a drop of lsd. And if you apply too much, a single dose can be fatal. Its like russian roulette. You dont know until its too late. You dont know whats in it or what effect its going to have, and it really just takes one time to have very serious effects. Reporter these new chemicals are turned into drugs that come in all different forms powders, pills, crystals, even liquids. Some are sold by dealers. But theres another, even easier way that kids get their hands on synthetic drugs. Many are sold in stores or head shops in packages like these, designed to make them look harmless. Says, does not contain any deabanned substances. Statements like these are are very misleading. Even though theyre in flashy packages theyre not regulated. Theyre not safe. Theyre not tested. Reporter the dea has even found problems with whats sometimes called synthetic marijuana. It looks like pot and is sometimes sold in headshops, but is nothing like the marijuana thats been legalized in some states. The plant material has been coated or sprayed with a synthetic drug, making it much more potent and potentially deadly. This is a combination of plant material that has been dosed with a drug. And somebody would roll that and smoke it . Correct, right. Reporter but one of the scariest things about all these synthetic drugs is where theyre coming from, and how difficult it is to stop the flow into the united states. How easy is it for someone here in america to to buy these chemicals . Too easy, extremely easy. A couple clicks and its on its way. Synthetic drugs, alltoo tempting to kids. Why dealers love them, too you make about a 1,500orso investment in these chemicals, you can probably make about a quarter of a Million Dollars on the street. Thats a huge return on investment. Its a big markup. Reporter when dateline continues. Continues. How do you eat healthier, while you enjoy life and lose weight . Now you can do it all with one simple plan. The allnew smartpoints from weight watchers. Our most advanced plan ever. Join for free. Hurry, join by march 3rd you wanna see something intense . New pantene expert gives you the most beautiful hair ever, with our strongest prov formula ever. I dont know what im doing. I cant find anything just when i think its just not going to work. This woman that works there comes over and asks can i help you . And he was so happy, to do it amazing right . I never would have expected would have thought that anyone would find that do that. Make that go out of their way for me. Right then, right there i couldnt believe it he was so helpful i know its such a small thing little thing. Simple thing but it made me smile made me happy made my day share your story. Reporter while local officials were chasing down the source of a deadly synthetic drug in this town near minneapolis, the Drug Enforcement administration has been doing the same on a national level. Youre talking about a multimillion dollar industry in the united states. Reporter Chuck Rosenberg is the administrator in charge of the dea. But youre talking about an industry thats killing our kids. Reporter the d. E. A. Says the synthetic drug problem in the u. S. Originates far outside our borders. Abroad. Often its processed or assembled and packaged here. But the chemicals are coming from overseas. Are most of these chemicals coming from china . Is that fair to say . Most of its coming from china. Reporter in china for the most part, its been perfectly legal to manufacture and sell most synthetic chemicals. In fact, over the last seven years, the china pipeline, as its called, has made so many of these chemical compounds, its created a whole new world of drug dealing. A world where drug makers and dealers rarely meet. And where drug buys take place online. How easy is it for someone here in america to buy these chemicals . Too easy. Extremely easy. Somebody sits down at their keyboard, orders it over the internet, and it shows up in a r r shows up in a package. Theyre reasonably savvy in the way they package it and you can only imagine how many packages are, transiting our borders every single day. Youre talking about millions and millions and millions of finding the one with the bad stuff in it, thats hard to do. Reporter but finding a website thats willing to sell and ship these chemicals straight to your doorstep, thats pretty easy. My producer found several websites where you can pretty easily buy and import a kilo which is a few pounds, right . 2. 2 pounds. 2. 2 pounds. So if she can do it, can anyone do it . Well, she cant do it legally. But yes. If she can do it, anyone can do it. We didnt, by the way. Oh, im glad to hear that. I would prefer that you not. Reporter this is video shot inside an actual lab in china where synethetic drugs are manufactured. And for those willing to break the law and have them shipped to the u. S. , dealing synthetic drugs can be easier and cheaper than dealing drugs like meth and lsd. The base chemicals are sold ready made. No chemistry experience required. A relatively small investment only a tiny amount of the chemical is needed for one dose, so a kilo goes a long way. Somebody who knows this business can turn that into 6,500 or so foil packets for resale. If you make about a 1,500 or so investment in these chemicals, you can probably make about a quarter of a Million Dollars on the street. Thats a huge return on investment. Its a big markup. Theyre in it to make money. And they dont care whose life they take. It is a gamble every time. A kid gets a hold of one of these things, theyre gambling. Except theyre gambling with their life. Because its so inconsistent . Absolutely, right. You and i could go buy the same thing on the same day in the same place and nothing happens to you, and i end up dead. Reporter that was apparently what happened in taras case. The tabs she and her friend took were haphazardly made. And only tara ended up with a she had this high level of this this drug. Had you ever heard of never heard of it. And im sure tara hadnt either, you know. They thought they were taking something completely different than what they were. What did you know about synthetic drugs before this . Nothing. Reporter and the trafficking of synthetics can be tough to prosecute. Because as soon as the federal government deems one chemical compound illegal, foreign labs alter its molecular structure. Producing a similar version thats not officially banned. The formulas are being tweaked all the time. And thats a problem, right. So there is some degree of playing catchup. Its sort of like a whackamole where you whack one and then Something Else pops up . Its not a bad analogy. Reporter in taras case, detectives had identified four local people, three High School Students and a dealer who were involved in the drug sales that lead to her death. And after months of digging, they finally found the main 19yearold alexander claussen. He was caught with more than 300 doses of 25i. Alex you have a right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Reporter the drugs were seized and the entire distribution chain involved in taras death was finally shut down. Just one final question loomed. What would happen to taras classmates . The kids who expected to be going off to college soon, not prison . Religiously i want to forgive everybody. But as a parent, let me tell you, its harder. Its very hard. Reporter coming up. The stakes are about to go up. Taras classmates may be charged with no less than homicide. If you sell a substance that leads to death, youre guilty of murder. Reporter what will that mean are they protected . Im ready you think your customers cant tell the difference between whos ready and whos not . Of course they do. Everybody wants a piece of ready. To the used car buyer whos worried about getting taken for a ride. Dont worry. The only rides youll get taken on at carmax are the ones you take yourself. 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Good morning moon. Good morning morning. Lesson they never asked for, one that came too late to save tara from a synthetic drug overdose. Were not taught how dangerous it really is and how unstable the chemicals can be. The kids dont know how deadly these drugs are. Theres not enough information thats being pushed out to the public. Heroin and cocaine and meth. But Something Like these synthetics is far deadlier in reporter prosecutors handling the first synthetic drug death in woodbury now had five defendants, including 3 High School Students. The two adults, who knew they were selling 25i and profited from the drugs, were charged not with drug sales, but with murder. Why homicide . In minnesota, theres murder in the 3rd degree. Its a pretty open statute that says if you sell a substance, a schedule one or two substance, that leads to the death youre guilty of murder. Reporter both adults pleaded guilty to 3rddegree murder. The main supplier, alexander claussen, was sentenced to six years in prison, while Cole Matenaer got a year in county jail and 15 years probation. Yet, when it came to prosecuting the three students, there were more difficult decisions to be made. These teenagers had never been in trouble before and seemed to but like the adults, they too were facing murder charges. County attorney pete orputt. I dont want to scare kids. Bullies scare people. I just let them know if you do this, you can expect justice. And were pretty firm about it. So when investigators said they were going to throw the book at these kids . Yeah, i was for it. You were for it . I was for it. Yes, absolutely. Yeah, they make mistakes. So from that aspect of it, i can understand both sides. But the overpowering part of it is that i am taras dad, and they made a mistake that killed my daughter. They have to take responsibility for that. Reporter but, it never came to that. Inside the county attorneys office, negotiations got under way and all three teens reached plea agreements. They pleaded guilty to drug sale charges in Juvenile Court and were sentenced to a combination of parole, fines and one weekend a month in a detention facility. You end up negotiating a three High School Students. I think so. Whyd you do that . Because we try to be fair. They werent the ones making money distributing it. This seemed like a onetime deal. I dont want them to suffer. But they need to have some guilt about what they did. It cant be free. Reporter mai and tom were disappointed with the more lenient plea deals the teens negotiated. Is it justice . No, not by a long shot for me. No, its not. Taras parents would say it wasnt enough. We were not flip about it. We put a good deal of time into going, are we being too tough . Are we being tough enough . But im convinced they were fair resolutions in the end. Reporter tom went to all five sentencing hearings and looked each defendant in the eye. I wanted to read a statement to them and and show them what this loss has meant to the family. This is who tara was and what she meant everything, everything to us along with her younger sister. Without her, a piece of our h soul is gone. It was heart wrenching to hear him talk about his daughter that he doesnt get to see any more. It was really difficult to watch him and see all the emotion. Reporter since taras death and with the publicity surrounding her case, Woodbury Police have not seen another synthetic drug overdose. I think its definitely caused a deterrent. Were not seeing it in the High School Like we were with this case. Reporter on the national level, the dea increased efforts to shut down synthetic drug rings. In just the last three years, operation project synergy has seized almost 50,000 pounds of synthetic drugs and made more than 400 arrests. Did we get it all . Of course, not. That would be a very difficult thing to do. And we got some stuff off the streets. And i presume that we in the process, saved some lives. Reporter and last october, after years of international pressure, china made it illegal to manufacture and sell more than 100 synthetic drug chemicals, including 25i. That was a great step. Is it enough . No, its not enough. We need to do a lot more, them, us, everybody. Reporter and at home, detective frascone suggests parents start respecting their kids privacy a little less and start snooping around a lot more. Go through their stuff. Search their stuff. Thats hard, though. It is it is hard. Theres its hard. What about their privacy . Theyre teenagers. There is an element of privacy with teenagers. However, you dont want me showing up at your door. If the difference is an upset kid and you know what theyre doing or them being in a casket, i guess id choose the upset kid. I wish i wouldve gone because i wouldve probably detected something off with those girls, but i didnt because i didnt want to infringe on their space. Reporter tom and mais greatest hope is that other parents will learn from their loss and become more aware of the risks. We all feel immune to drugs because our kids are better than that, they know better. Theyre not going to do this. Theyre going to be smarter, and its not going to happen to us. Reporter taras friends are in college now and think of her often. They hope with the investigation behind them, people will remember tara not just for the way she died, but as they do. I want people to remember how spunky she was. She was a rare gem, to have as a friend. And we were lucky to have been with her. I want people to know that she was smart, and she had a future. And she just happened to make and now, an all new dateline mystery. This one also begins in a quiet neighborhood stunned by sudden tragedy. It was surreal. I was reeling from shock that my parents were gone. A devoted couple killed in the home they shared with a museums worth of collectibles. He was big into the civil war. Guns, coins of all kinds. Was there a connection between the memorabilia and the murder . Who was going to benefit from these deaths . Jessica is the only child. The sole heir . The sole heir. But hidden among the treasures, a clue pointing to a most surprising and calculating killer. Someone with a sick mind. Thats all i know