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2 people arrested in connection with death of 22-year-old University of Idaho student

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A Washington state police department has arrested two people in connection to the death of a 22-year-old University of Idaho student.

Caden Young, of Boise, died Tuesday, March 21, in Centralia, Washington — which is about 25 miles south of Olympia — after a friend called police saying that Young was “unconscious and not breathing,” according to a news release from the Centralia Police Department and the Lewis County Coroner’s Office.

Police alleged in the news release that the two suspects provided illegal drugs to Young, and those drugs were involved in his death. The Idaho Statesman has reached out to the Centralia Police Department for more information.

The Lewis County Coroner’s Office told the Statesman by phone that Young’s toxicology report was still pending and wouldn’t be completed for roughly two weeks.

A 22-year-old Moscow woman and a 36-year-old Tacoma man were arrested on suspicion of delivery of a controlled substance, according to the police news release. Both of the suspects are expected to appear at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Lewis County Courthouse in Chehalis for their next hearing. They have been in custody at the Lewis County Jail since last Tuesday, online jail records showed.

University of Idaho Dean of Students and Vice Provost for Student Affairs Blaine Eckles reported Young’s death Thursday evening in a memo.

Young was a member and former president of the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity. A journalism student, he wrote for the University of Idaho’s student newspaper, The Argonaut, in 2021 and was “pursuing his interest in reporting on human rights and geopolitical issues,” according to a Facebook post from the journalism college.

“This has understandably been a difficult year for the Vandal Family, with the loss of several students since the start of the academic year last August,” Eckles said in the memo. “Please make sure to take care of yourself and others. As a community, we collectively mourn Caden’s death and share our deepest condolences with his family and friends who are most impacted by his passing.”