Guest spectr Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/17/internet.suicide.ap/index.html DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Missouri (AP) -- 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," she told the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis, which first reported on the case. Tina Meier said law enforcement officials told her the case did not fit into any law. But sheriff's officials have not closed the case and pledged to consider new evidence if it emerges. Megan Meier hanged herself in her bedroom on October 16, 2006, and died the next day. She was described as a "bubbly, goofy" girl who loved spending time 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 October 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 cruel messages. Then, Megan called her mother, saying electronic bulletins were being posted about her, saying things like, "Megan Meier is a slut. Megan Meier is fat." Megan's mother, who monitored her daughter's online communications, returned home and said she was shocked at the vulgar language her own daughter was sending. She told her daughter how upset she was about it. 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. Another parent, who learned of the MySpace account from her own daughter who had access to the Josh profile, told Megan's parents about the hoax in a counselor's office about six weeks after Megan died. That's when they learned Josh was imaginary, they said. The woman who created the fake profile has not been charged with a crime. She allegedly told the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department she created Josh's profile because she wanted to gain Megan's confidence to know what Megan was saying about her own child online. The mother from down the street told police that she, her daughter and another person all typed and monitored the communication between the fictitious boy and Megan. A person who answered the door at the family's house told an Associated Press reporter on Friday afternoon that they had been advised not to comment. Megan's parents had been storing a foosball table for the family that created the MySpace character. Six weeks after Megan's death, they learned the other family had created the profile and responded by destroying the foosball table, dumping it on the neighbors' driveway and encouraging them to move away. Megan's parents are now separated and plan to divorce. Aldermen in Dardenne Prairie, a community of about 7,000 residents about 35 miles from St. Louis, have proposed a new ordinance related to child endangerment and Internet harassment. It could come before city leaders on Wednesday. "Is this enough?" Mayor Pam Fogarty said Friday. "No, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it's something, and you have to start somewhere." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blart.BOS Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 that girl is stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorldBench Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 depression - in reality, it's caused by your peers sorry to hear that, i feel bad for her. sucks she had to go that way out. i'm so glad i've prevented many people from dropping them selves. to bad i've still lost 7 friends to suicide. i love old english Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tipsycripsy420 Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 thats really sad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T4M* Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 Do You Remeber this kid? http://myspacide.ytmnd.com/ Damn Kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~KRYLON2~ Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 thats not cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iloveboxcars Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 i always get stuck highlighting all the text on ytmnd. i spend atleast 5 minutes on it each time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawood Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 damn, I think only suburban kids off themselves , because I never knew anyone committing suicide when I was growing up and we used to haze dudes to death. That's just me, though. I'm sure suicide is more of a suburban thing like columbine type shootings. Maybe things just got bad recently , I don't know. I stay away from you weirdos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porcelain Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 damn thats some fucked up shit. poor girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iloveboxcars Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 ok, i feel sorry for the girl. not because someone was hazing her but because she was depressed and killed herself over some myspace friend. BUT. how the fuck are the parents trying to prosecute someone else for something like this? how fucking ridiculous is this society? seriously? please just fucking stop it. every time i hear about this shit i feel like im about to have a brain aneurysm. i absolutely cannot fathom this situation being reasonable to anyone. i thought it was spelled aneurism but firefox spell check tells me it has a y and not an i. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeking Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 i always get stuck highlighting all the text on ytmnd. i spend atleast 5 minutes on it each time. highlighting what text? is ytmnd trying to send me secret messages and im not getting them? and while i do think its fucking retarded to try and presecute someone for making a fake profile, its seriously fucked up that an adult would make a fake name to fuck with a 13 year old girl. that's pathetic as shit, and she sould definitely get the shit kicked out of her atleast once every 3 months for the rest of her life. her windows should also be broken out of her car atleast twice a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychadelic banana Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 it was an adult that was pretending to be a teen boy? man thats pretty low psychadelic banana does not approve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtydoses Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 ha, thats fucked. obviously she was stupid. sad, yes. will i lose sleep? no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iloveboxcars Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 oh i didnt realize it was an adult. and ytmnd has that text that shadows itself on every page. like on that one it says "he really killed himself" or whatever. i scroll back and forth so that it highlights all of it then back to nothing then all of it then back to nothing. i have no idea why i do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIVERWURST* Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 So let me get this straight: Convincing a 13 year old girl to have sex with you over Myspace = bad Convincing a 13 year old girl to kill herself over Myspace = okay I think I got it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CALIgula Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 its time to stop blaming myspace and love your chilrens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iloveboxcars Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 they didnt convince her to kill herself. they just stopped talking to her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeking Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 it was an adult, her daughter and another friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fist 666 Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide And he really did commit suicide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skullnbones Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 its time to stop blaming myspace and love your chilrens. Funny but trooooooooo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CALIgula Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 props? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IOU Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 Legislation is the parent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne hits Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 moebumps is a slut moebumps is fat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRUNKEN-ASSHOLE-ONER Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 and while i do think its fucking retarded to try and presecute someone for making a fake profile, its seriously fucked up that an adult would make a fake name to fuck with a 13 year old girl. that's pathetic as shit, and she sould definitely get the shit kicked out of her atleast once every 3 months for the rest of her life. her windows should also be broken out of her car atleast twice a year. ^That sounds about right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayabusa Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 myspace project? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justaname Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 wtf is up with kids these days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceLeroy Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 wtf? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estaked Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 yeah its like wtf how do you let your kid be so naive and then its like natural selection and shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest spectr Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 honestly i am conflicted on how to feel about this... the girl obviously had some mental problems... what the people did was pretty fucked up... and it really sucks that she killed herself... but.... she killed herself over losing a fake myspace friend... i really have to laugh at this in some ways... its tragic... but shit... american soldiers kill iraqi's all the time.... and no one even notices... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.crooked Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 just another mark on the list of fucked up happenings in the world. yawn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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