TEEN'S DEATH IS TIED TO ECSTASY LOOKALIKE

Toxicology reports released Friday show that a 17-year-old McHenry youth
died after taking an Ecstasy lookalike pill containing PMA, a stimulant
that can be fatal when taken in excess, police said.

Steven Lorenz had paramethoxyamphetamine, or PMA, in his system when he
died in the early morning hours of May 7, said McHenry Police Chief Michael
D. Kostecki.

"We're continuing the investigation until we've exhausted all leads,"
Kostecki said. "We're trying to find the ultimate source of the drug and
trying to trace everything back to who is manufacturing these pills."

However, charges against Steven M. Jergensen, 20, of Round Lake Beach--the
man who police believe supplied Lorenz with the drug--will stand, Kostecki
said. Jergensen was arrested a day after Lorenz's death and charged with
delivering less than 15 grams of a controlled substance, a felony.

Jergensen posted bond and was released from McHenry County Jail.

To be charged with a drug-induced homicide, Kostecki said, Jergensen would
have to be charged with delivering more than 50 grams of the controlled
substance, an amount he did not possess.

Kostecki said the McHenry police are working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration and with police in Lisle and Naperville, where similar
drug-induced deaths were reported in May.