Teen distraught at end of MySpace relationship; neighbor family created ID
DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Mo. - 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.
Scum of the earth. Knowing her weaknesses, and exploiting them.
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.
Really? How would you know? You obviously weren't doing your job. She's your child! She didn't ask to be born and suffer all through her days, YOU brought that on her! YOU!
However, I do agree that the family responsible for the hoax should be held responsible. 100%
‘Absolutely vile’
"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.
Doesn't fit into any law?? There are commercials on the radio all the time that say "Put an end to cyber bullying. Report it to the Cyber bullying tip line because it's illegal. If you wouldn't say it in person, don't say it online."
If I remember correctly, Bush passed a law pertaining to this, and I'd think that this falls under that heading.
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 spending time with her friends, watching movies and fishing with her dad.
May she find the peace that she never had here. God rest her soul.
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.
Far too intricate just to destroy someone. That shows you to what depths these people are capable of, and how much remorse they won't have. They knew from the getgo that she had mental problems. This whole thing reminds me of Khan's statement to Kirk in "The Wrath Of Khan": "I've done worse than kill you. I've hurt you." Unfortunately, this time...their plan succeeded in both. Pretty evil if you ask me.
Megan seemed upset
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.
Mommy and Daddy made a terrible mistake. MySpace is to blame as well, because they need to *require* identification. Besides, if more people had to jump through hoops just to sign up, it'd thin out the herd of idiots in a heartbeat. And if they're pricks and still sign up, at least you have all the important information to give to the authorities when a dick move like this one is pulled.
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 [Swearing is not permitted at Clublakers. You must edit this post prior to submitting.]. 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.
Sounds to me like the parents grew tired of her constant mental struggles and attributed it to being just a teenager or something equally lame and stupid. Knowing that her daughter has serious mental problems, and that someone is torturing her...yelling at her about the language could've waited until a more appropriate time. Not to mention, she was literally mentally unbalanced and she's online...of course she's going to use foul language! It was your job to keep her from it!
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.
Oh, so they *DID* tell her to kill herself after torturing her some more? That right there should be an instant "Book 'em Danno."
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.
Things that needed to be known BEFORE SHE FRIGGIN' KILLED HERSELF!
Creator of fake account not charged
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.
I have high doubts that your child is innocent, and I'm sure whatever this girl said about your kid...was well deserved. I've heard it said that you lose something in the next generation. So, if that's true and you're obviously a scum, what does that say for your child that you wish to proclaim as an angel? Probably end up a serial killer. You set up a hoax in which a kid killed herself, is it so hard to believe that your little angel could be anything like you? (and most likely a lot worse.)
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.
So, you admit you were not only the creator of the hoax, but you allowed your daughter and a friend to help you destroy this girl from the inside out? WHY WERE YOU ALLOWED TO PROCREATE?
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.
That's pretty sick. You stab your own friends in the back to the point that their child dies? Moving encouragement and a broken Foosball table should be the least of your concerns. Disgusting pigs.
Megan's parents are now separated and plan to divorce.
If anything, they need each other now, more than ever. What a sad twist to an already horrible case.
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."
It better pass. And I hope you're right...I hope it starts something bigger and better and actually does the right thing. PROTECT PEOPLE.
Depression is a debilitating hold on your life, I should know, I face it everyday, and when I was her age, I wanted to kill myself too. Thankfully I didn't, and I'm glad that God got me through this, but I also see the girl's pain and torture and how no one was there when all she needed was someone to listen and let her cry it out. No one understood (or was willing to take the time and try to) and she couldn't take it anymore, so she killed herself to end the pain.
She was 14 years old. She only knows what others have taught her, and apparently they didn't teach her that she was important enough as a person.
If this doesn't get to you, at all, you must be an inhuman machine. It doesn't matter if it was MySpace. It doesn't matter if you think she was a coward (she wasn't, how dare you!) A person died here and she didn't have to.
...she just didn't have to. Can't any of you find enough warmth in your cold, blackened, metallic hearts and feel at least pity for her?
No one cared for her in life, couldn't we at least show some care now?
And normally I'd say to punish the parents for their hand in this, but you know what? They're already in prison.
1.) They lost their child. "No one should ever have to bury their own child." (Stargate) You don't ever get over that. You maybe get on with life, but you don't get over it.
2.) They're divorcing. So not only must they deal with their lost child, but now their entire life together is being flushed down the toilet.
3.) I think somewhere, deep down...both of them are thinking "I could've done more. I wasn't there for her."
The prison of the mind can actually do more damage than steel and concrete walls. Sooner or later, the cell opens and the person's released. And no, I don't think of Prison as a walk in the park. Not by any means. But the mind? The mind never leaves the person and it carries all of those horrific memories 'til their dying day.
That's a punishment that isn't taken lightly.
Let them suffer as is, don't add insult to injury.
NOTE: Realize that I am not a perfect Christian, nor do I profess to be. I apologize if anyone's ever offended by me, I'm not perfect. Don't hold my posts and opinions against other Christians.
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