2 dead, several arrested after weekend music festival at Legend Valley

THORNVILLE - Two people died after attending the Lost Lands Music Festival at Legend Valley this weekend, according to the Licking County Coroner's Office.

Ger Vang, 24, of North Carolina, and Mario Symborski, 32, of Michigan, were taken from the festival in Thornville directly to Licking Memorial Hospital where they were pronounced dead, said Renee Rogers, an investigator at the coroner's office.

Official causes of death is pending toxicology results, Rogers said. 

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Despite social media rumors claiming nine people died, Vang and Symborski were the only two the coroner's office can confirm. Rogers said the coroner's office called some of the surrounding counties trying to determine if that was true.

"None of our surrounding counties had any deaths from the festival," she said. "We don't get numbers of overdoses that do not die."

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Four people were arrested over the weekend at the festival. Mark Webster, 28, last known address 142 Scholes St. Apt. 2, Brooklyn, New York, was charged in Licking County Common Pleas Court with trafficking of drugs, a third-degree felony.

Webster was allegedly working at the festival as a vendor and was observed dropping items into a trash can. The action was reported to security and a subsequent search of his vehicle produced a large amount of a similar substance, which is believed to be the Schedule III drug ketamine.

Webster is on federal probation on for essentially the same charge, said Assistant Licking County Prosecutor Paula Sawyers during Webster's bond hearing Monday.

Sawyers recommended Webster's bond be set at $100,000 because of his previous offense, but Licking County Common Pleas Court Magistrate Mattie Klein gave Webster a $25,000 bond.

Bradyn M. Yates, 21, last known address 6210 Brandon St., Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, was charged with aggravated trafficking of drugs, a fourth-degree felony. Yates was allegedly selling ketamine and ecstasy. His bond was set at $10,000.

Rondell J. Johnson, 25, of Kalamazoo, Michigan,  was charged with trafficking of drugs, a third-degree felony. Johnson was suspected of selling Adderall and and cocaine. Klein set his bond at $25,000.

Frederick Abreu, 23, last known address 4902 Monarch Lane, Kissimmee, Florida, was charged with possession of drugs after allegedly having LSD with him. Abreu was released by Klein on his own recognizance. 

Two other people were arrested at the festival last week. Detectives with the Central Ohio Drug Enforcement Task Force arrested Peter M. Ramos, 27, and Taylor J. Hatley, 25, both of Topeka, Kansas.

Ramos allegedly had more than 70 ecstasy pills and was charged with aggravated trafficking of drugs, a third-degree felony. Detectives observed Hatley throw a bag of suspected cocaine into a trash can. Once the bag was collected, officials believed it contained cocaine and fentanyl. He has been charged with possession of drugs, a fifth-degree felony.

mdevito@gannett.com

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Twitter: @MariaDeVito13