Two Ole Miss students die; kratom found in investigation
Authorities are investigating the deaths of Aidan Hamilton and Robert Strang, with kratom found in a package.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Robert Strang(Family)
Photograph: Action News 5 (embedded from source)
What this story says
- University of Mississippi students Aidan Hamilton, 18, and Robert Strang, 20, died on September 21.
- Kratom was found in a package during the investigation into the students' deaths.
- The causes of death have not been confirmed by the Lafayette County Coroner's Office.
- Hamilton's body was found at Stewart Hall, and Strang's at an off-campus home.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 9 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 2 of the 11 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
50/100
Craft
50/100
Hype
41/100
11 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
None of the 9 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Two University of Mississippi students, Aidan Hamilton, 18, and Robert Strang, 20, died on September 21. Kratom was found in a package during the investigation into their deaths, though its connection remains unclear. The Lafayette County Coroner's Office has not confirmed the causes of death. Robert Strang's body was found at an off-campus home, while Aidan Hamilton was discovered at Stewart Hall, a campus dorm.
Disagreement on connection between deaths
The New York Post reported that the two deaths are not believed to be connected. However, the Hindustan Times stated that the key question remaining unanswered is the allegations of overdose and authorities finding kratom during the probe, without revealing how it is connected to the deaths.
What the coverage left out
None of the centre or right-rated reports mention the specific locations where the bodies of Aidan Hamilton and Robert Strang were found, beyond one mentioning Strang was found at an off-campus residence and Hamilton at Stewart Hall, a dorm inside the University of Mississippi campus, as reported by the Hindustan Times.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 3 times, most recently on 24 Sept 2026, 19:30, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
6 rated outlets
- Centre-rated reports identified the deceased students as Aidan Hamilton, 18, and Robert Strang, 20. They noted that Strang was from Atlanta and Hamilton from Colorado. Several reports mentioned that the causes of death were unconfirmed and that kratom was found in a package during the investigation. The Hindustan Times provided the most detail, identifying the students by name and age, stating kratom was found in a package, and noting that causes of death were unconfirmed. It also reported that Strang's body was found at an off-campus home and Hamilton's at Stewart Hall. WSB_TV Atlanta 2 and La Prensa Latina Media highlighted that one of the students was from Atlanta.
Right
3 rated outlets
- Right-rated reports identified the deceased students as Robert Strang, 20, and Aidan Hamilton, 18. TrendingPolitics stated that authorities are probing a "chilling string of deaths" and await toxicology results. The New York Post reported that the students' bodies were found next to packaged kratom and that the two deaths are not believed to be connected. Wfmd.com noted that the students were found dead under suspicious circumstances.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Two Ole Miss students die; kratom found in investigation?
- Of the 9 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 67% are rated centre, 33% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 11. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Two Ole Miss students die; kratom found in investigation left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 9 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Two Ole Miss students die; kratom found in investigation biased?
- Two Ole Miss students die; kratom found in investigation is one event reported by 11 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Two Ole Miss students die; kratom found in investigation?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Two Ole Miss students die; kratom found in investigation?
- 11 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- Who were the students who died at Ole Miss?
- The students who died were identified as 18-year-old freshman Aidan Hamilton and 20-year-old Robert Strang. Both were students at the University of Mississippi.
- What was found during the investigation into their deaths?
- Kratom was found in a package during the investigation into the students' deaths. However, the connection between the drug and the deaths remains unclear.
- Have the causes of death been confirmed?
- No, the causes of death have not been confirmed by the Lafayette County Coroner's Office. Toxicology reports are pending.
Read it at the source
11 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
6- Ole Miss deaths update: Who were Aidan Hamilton and Robert Strang? New details of incident emerge (opens Hindustan Times in a new tab)
Hindustan Times — is Hindustan Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Atlanta junior among 2 Ole Miss students found dead in Mississippi (opens WSB_TV Atlanta 2 in a new tab)
WSB_TV Atlanta 2 — is WSB_TV Atlanta 2 biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ole Miss Identifies Two Students Found Dead as Narcotics Task Force Investigates (opens Internewscast in a new tab)
Internewscast — is Internewscast biased? Our profile of this outlet
- They Identify the Two Ole Miss Students Who Died on Monday. (opens La Prensa Latina Media in a new tab)
La Prensa Latina Media — is La Prensa Latina Media biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Student newspaper confirms identities in deaths of Ole Miss students (opens WSMV Nashville in a new tab)
WSMV Nashville — is WSMV Nashville biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Student newspaper confirms identities in deaths of Ole Miss students (opens Action News 5 in a new tab)
Action News 5 — is Action News 5 biased? Our profile of this outlet
Right
3- Ole Miss Victims Identified As Authorities Probe Chilling String Of Deaths (opens TrendingPolitics in a new tab)
TrendingPolitics — is TrendingPolitics biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ole Miss students found dead identified as freshman, 18, and ‘dear son,’ 20, as cops search for answers (opens New York Post in a new tab)
New York Post — is New York Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ole Miss victims identified as narcotics task force probes two student deaths (opens wfmd.com in a new tab)
Not rated
2How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
