Megan Meier thought she had made a new friend in cyberspace when a cute teenage boy named Josh contacted her on MySpace and began exchanging messages with her.
Megan, a 13-year-old who suffered from depression and attention deficit disorder, corresponded with Josh for more than a month before he abruptly ended their friendship, telling her he had heard she was cruel.
The next day Megan committed suicide.
Her family learned later that Josh never actually existed; he was created by members of a neighborhood family that included a former friend of Megan's. Now Megan's parents hope the people who made the fraudulent profile on the social networking Web site will be prosecuted, and they are seeking legal changes to safeguard children on the Internet.
The girl's mother, Tina Meier, said she doesn't think anyone involved intended for her daughter to kill herself. "But when adults are involved and continue to screw with a 13-year-old, with or without mental problems, it is absolutely vile."
Megan Meier hanged herself in her bedroom on Oct. 16, 2006, and died the next day. She was described as a "bubbly, goofy" girl who loved hanging out with her friends, watching movies and fishing with her dad. Megan had been on medication, but had been upbeat before her death, her mother said, after striking up a relationship on MySpace with Josh Evans about six weeks before her death.
Josh told her he was born in Florida and had recently moved to the nearby community of O'Fallon. He said he was homeschooled, and didn't yet have a phone number in the area to give her.
Megan's parents said she received a message from him on Oct. 15 of last year, essentially saying he didn't want to be her friend anymore, that he had heard she wasn't nice to her friends.
The next day, as Megan's mother headed out the door to take another daughter to the orthodontist, she knew Megan was upset about Internet messages. She asked Megan to log off. Users on MySpace must be at least 14, though Megan was not when she opened her account. A MySpace spokeswoman did not return calls seeking comment.
Someone using Josh's account was sending things like, "Megan Meier is a slut. Megan Meier is fat."
Megan ran upstairs, and her father, Ron, tried to tell her everything would be fine. About 20 minutes later, she was found in her bedroom. She died the next day.
Her father said he found a message the next day from Josh, which he said law enforcement authorities have not been able to retrieve. It told the girl she was a bad person and the world would be better without her, he has said.
5 comments:
Well, I have to tell you all that I personally don't think the suicide was caused by just this one incident on the internet. Even though, I think it is disgusting and heinous -- as it was perpetuated by adults????
The story I have that leads me to believe that this girl had 1)extremely low self esteem and 2) no family or friends that she could count on to love her unconditionally.
Way back over 20 years ago, a "friend" played this same gag on my cousin--F.. This so called friend had a guy call F. on the phone and pretend to be someone who saw her at a basketball game or something and had a huge "crush" on her.. he proceeded to call her numerous time and even sent her a picture of himself with a fake name. There were only three h.s. in my hometown and he said he went to a private school in a nearby town--Racine..that we had heard about, but did NOT know anyone who attended there. So we could not verify if what this guy said was true. To make a long story short. We discovered the truth and my cousin was devastated as the guy said the whole thing was a JOKE AND THERE WAS NO "JAKE MORGAN" THAT thought she was pretty and wonderful..the worst part is tha our "friend" came up with this whole thing.. Don't ask me why.. she definitely was twisted..I honestly think she was a lesbian and could not come out..
Myself and another cousin helped F. through her pain and we had a 'ceremony'and burned the picture the guy had sent her ..
F. was FINE... she was humiliated and taken for a fool..But, she had her real FRIENDS around her and her family who loved her for what she was..
The people who perpetuated this cruel hoax are really losers, as they are adults, I do think they should be charged with some sort of harrassment..
this crap has been going on since the beginning of time.
L K Tucker- VisionAndPsychosis.Net
You may be unaware there is a severe problem of student suicides. Most are college students and like Ben Stanford some have bizarre overtones.
Visit VisionAndPsychosis.Net and link to the College Suicides and Missing Students page. Fleischmann is not currently included but he is another likely victim.
The Virgina Tech shooter had created the circumstances for Subliminal Distraction exposure. Remember the paranoid psychotic rant? If the delusions of the mental event associated with SD include fear and thoughts of failure suicide might be the outcome.
SD exposure may be the reason for bizarre and unexplained events near a suicide.
I call it stalking. They stalked this child to the point that she took her own life. SICKENING!
Mary
I myself think there is a crime here...Heres the thing about this case i dont understand and can not comprehend...If it was a a sexual predator the GROWN ADULTS would have been charged.
To me this is the same concept.
These ADULTS got inside this little girls head.They Played on her emotions her insecurities and got her fall in love with with this fake boy.Im sure the CHILD had other issues.What CHILD doesnt.She didnt need the GROWN ADULTS pushing her over the edge.
This is completely sick, twisted, and wrong; What adult does that? For God's sakes, imagine if it was THEIR daughter, or THEIR brother or sister?
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