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NORTH LOGAN — Police evacuated a home in North Logan after crews detected the deadly toxin ricin there following a suicide attempt.
A 37-year-old woman trying to commit suicide ground up 30 castor beans in her basement apartment at a home near 2200 North and 740 East and ingested them, according to North Park Police Chief Kim Hawkes.
Police said the woman had purchased 60 castor beans online.
"The intent of the subject was not to create this toxin in a form that could be broadcast to large areas or to be vaporized," Hawkes said.
Detectives said the woman's cousin called for help around 10:00 p.m. Wednesday to report she feared her cousin was committing suicide.
Officers located the woman, who was taken to a hospital. Her updated condition was not available, but Hawkes said had she already experienced symptoms of nausea and vomiting when officers arrived Thursday morning.
Hazmat crews responded as well and said the grinder tested "low positive" for ricin. The Utah National Guard was called to help with decontamination and the 85th Civil Support Team was on standby.
Members of a family living upstairs in the home were also taken to a hospital where they were checked and released.
Where the woman came up with the idea to use ricin remained unclear Thursday afternoon. Neighbors woke up to an alarming scene, with officers exiting the home in hazardous materials suits.
"I go, 'So can you tell me what's going on here?' They said, ‘We can't tell you anything,' " neighbor Nancy Jensen said. "I didn't know if it was airborne or if I was in danger."
Jensen said the female renter's friend told her she had been sick for some time.
"I just feel really bad about it and, I don't know, hopefully she's going to be alright," Jensen said.
Another neighbor said she didn't know the renter but also expressed her sympathy for the woman.
It's shocking that something like this happened, certainly. But I think it's mostly just sad.
–Elizabeth Pack
"It's shocking that something like this happened, certainly," Elizabeth Pack said. "But I think it's mostly just sad."
According to the Centers for Disease Control, ricin is a poison found naturally in castor beans. If castor beans are chewed and swallowed, the released ricin can cause injury.
Castor beans are processed throughout the world to make castor oil. Ricin is part of the waste "mash" produced when castor oil is made, according to the Bear River Health Department.
Members of a weapons of mass destruction team with the Army National Guard responded to the incident and said that ricin can be made at home and has the potential to be very dangerous.
"There's some specialized steps, I don't really want to go into how you create ricin, but there are a lot of steps you have to take to actually get a pure form of ricin which is really, really toxic," said Major Craig Bello of the 85th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team. "It would take some planning, at least trying to follow a recipe of how to make it, whether to kill yourself or someone else."
Contributing: Shara Park
