Posted on 11/21/2007 9:26:06 AM PST by Between the Lines
An Internet hoax that apparently led to the suicide of a teenage girl has stoked outrage online, divided the suburb where the girl lived and prompted calls to reform online harassment laws.
About a year ago, 13-year-old Megan Meier hanged herself inside her parents' home in Dardenne Prairie, Ill. The apparent cause, her parents have said, was the sudden decline of her online relationship with a 16-year-old boy they thought was named Josh Evans.
But, soon after their daughter's death, Tina and Ron Meier discovered that there was no Josh Evans. They say the boy who pretended to be Megan's friend and then sent her nasty messages was the creation of an adult neighbor.
Though police and prosecutors have investigated, a year later, no criminal charges have been filed against the woman who allegedly created the online profile, and it's unclear whether any will be brought.
But that hasn't stopped an outpouring of hostility against her, both online and in the real world. The story hit the national media late last week, with Megan's parents appearing on "Good Morning America" and the "Today" show. Though the newspapers and networks declined to identify the real-life "Josh Evans," bloggers quickly outed her and posted her family's name, address and phone number online.
Since then, messages threatening the family have been posted online. A brick was thrown through their window. Someone drove a truck over their front lawn, according to police. A paint-ball was shot against the house.
The woman, who also has a young daughter, has received threatening phone calls; people have screamed obscenities as they drive by the house, a neighbor said. Police descended on the house in the middle of the night last week, neighbors said, after an apparent fake 911 call was made.
Police are concerned that the harassment, first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, may escalate.
"We believe that all the publicity about this situation has led to an air of vigilantism," said Lt. Craig McGuire of the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department. "We're concerned people will take things into their own hands."
Megan, who sometimes suffered from low self-esteem and depression, was elated when she got an e-mail on the social networking site MySpace from a cute boy named "Josh Evans," her parents said. Josh claimed to be a 16-year-old boy who lived nearby. He said he was home-schooled and didn't yet have a phone.
The two developed a virtual friendship that lasted more than a month before things inexplicably took a downward turn. "Megan gets an e-mail, or a message from Josh on her MySpace on Oct. 15, 2006, saying, 'I don't know if I want to be friends with you any longer because I hear you're not nice to your friends,'" Tina Meier said on "GMA."
Insulting messages calling Megan "fat" and a "slut" were being posted, according to The Associated Press.
Tina Meier discovered her daughter's body in a bedroom closet the next day. She had hanged herself.
Six weeks after Megan's death, a neighbor told the Meiers that there was no Josh Evans. He was a fictitious creation of woman whose daughter knew Megan and lived down the street.
The Meiers knew the woman who allegedly created the profile. Her family had asked the Meiers whether they could store their foosball table. The woman attended Megan's funeral, according to the AP.
Once they learned of the family's involvement, the Meiers allegedly destroyed the table, placed it in the woman's yard and encouraged the family to move, according to the AP.
The Meiers said they don't think the woman wanted Megan to commit suicide. But they still hold her responsible for their daughter's death.
"I believe they are the ones who took her to the edge of the cliff and forced her to go over," Ron Meier said. "Everything that we found out so far — it was the sole idea of the mother."
No charges have been filed in the case and the local prosecutor has said it appears no laws were broken. McGuire said the sheriff's department and local and federal prosecutors investigated the case and concluded that they could not file criminal charges.
But, it appears that the Josh Evans profile and messages could have violated a federal cyberstalking law, which prevents people from sending abusive or threatening messages, said Perry Aftab, a cyberlaw expert. Aftab, who runs WiredSafety, which helps victims of so-called cyberabuse, said this was one of the few instances she could recall of adults harassing children online.
The involvement of an adult set Megan's story apart from traditional cyberbullying, she said. "This is particularly heinous," she added.
Some neighbors of the family accused of setting up the profile agreed.
"I do think it's criminal, and I think they should be held responsible for it," said Terri Hutchinson.
With the publicity, county prosecutor Jack Banas has said he will re-examine the case. Wednesday, the local town council will propose an ordinance that will criminalize this kind of online harassment, making it a misdemeanor, said Pam Fogarty, the mayor of Dardenne Prairie.
"It's not much, but at least it's something," Fogarty said of the proposed ordinance. "I think it's absolutely horrible that an adult can do this to a child, much less the mother of a friend and there is nothing to charge her with."
By researching, I found out the subject email was in Oct. 2006. I found that Curt Drew has been fired from his real estate job, and that Lori Drew’s business has closed, due to her clients unified withdrawal of business.
So now in Nov. 2007 the internet is all lit up, but is NOT up to date.
If they have a conscience the memory of what they did will live with them for the rest of their lives.
Are you serious!?!? I don’t know what role Cory played in this tragedy, but if Lori’s business shut down for lack of clients, that would be deserved IMO. Do you have any links? I googled Drew Advantage, and their info’s still up, but of course that proves nothing besides it takes some sites awhile to update.
Such a beautiful girl. I do not endorse harassing the “adults” who tormented her, but I have a hard time feeling sorry for them.
Unfortuneatly, there seems to be little if any legal grounds for criminal and civil actions. However, it does look the like community is rising up. While I can not condone the vandalism, the shunning should have quite an impact. All of their income depends on retail selling. No customers and life will be hard for them.
And you know all of this & how do you know it? If you have 100% proof of this please provide us with links & back yourself up. I am very interested in how YOU know all of this..
Maybe next you will say Lori Drew is innocent of creating this "Josh" & lying & tormenting a child she knew was unstable.~Pandora~
but when i have a 13 year old i'll have every password to every site. there will be no computers in bedrooms. only common areas.
if your kid is conversing with someone online, you have no idea who they could be. how can you trust a 13 year old with this technology? we dont need gov't regulation on this, but some parental common sense would be nice.
they really began to care who their daughter was talking to AFTER she took her own life. that's a little too late.
“I found that Curt Drew has been fired from his real estate job, and that Lori Drew’s business has closed, due to her clients unified withdrawal of business.”
Good. (Nothing more to say as it may be taken as harrasment/threats/ etc.)
Pretty easy to do. Of course I am serious.
I wonder why Curt Drew got fired.
I spent hours looking all over the internet on this story. The parents say they DID watch her myspace & although I would never allow my minor child to have any such account, I can't understand why you said the dead girl's parents sucked? Why would you say that? You don't know what their home life was . Thats why I asked you to back up that mean comment. If you know that these parents were negligent etc how do you know? Are you assuming they were negligent? If so say that! Or back it up with proof & links!
I've raised teens who are now adults & let me tell you its darn hard to watch every single thing they do. They will try to pull things over on you & you better be really sharp. Computers can be a great thing but when teens get on myspace etc it can become a nightmare. I wouldn't allow aol chats for my teens and I sure don't plan on letting my 8 yr old daughter on the computer without sitting next to her.
As for Lori Drew, she is an evil sick woman & IMHO opinion she is no better then the perverts who lie & stalk children on the internet. I hope she rots in he11. I don't care if I sound mean either. I hope her everyday is a day of he11. Sad to say but people like her have no feelings or remorse otherwise they wouldn't play childish games with children. She is supposed to be an adult & she knew that Megan had problems. So if anyone sucks its Lori Drew & her nasty daughter.
Remember that the fake boy said he was local, and since the woman perpetrating the fraud was a neighbor, obviously the fake boy could say things that would make the girl and her parents feel he was not just some stranger on the internet.
What those people did was despicable. Whether it’s criminal is up to the law to decide, but that type of behavior does deserve the shunning of them by the town IMHO.
Read it, see what the woman said to Megan.
“We don’t allow our 13-year-old daughter to talk on the phone to anyone we don’t know. If someone (boy or girl) calls the house and asks to speak with her, we find out who s/he is. Anything less than that level of oversight is inviting potential trouble into your house. (She doesn’t have her own cell phone, either.) As she gets older, and less innocent of the evil in this world, we will gradually relax the level of supervision.”
Sounds wise to me. IOW you are treating your 13 year old, like a 13 year old. Not like a 16 or 18 year old.
I think a good amount of the trouble with younger people is firstly, they are allowed a wide range of freedoms, as is freedom is the measure of being grown up.
Yet at the other end, so many aren’t grown up at 30.
I just posted a link to an article with more info.
The woman created “JOSH” so she could find out what Megan really thought about her daughter. She targeted and went after Megan.
“I wonder why Curt Drew got fired.”
He was a sales agent, with a well known national firm. One which places a LOT of value on competency, professionalism, image, etc.
I have seen a real estate office’s business destroyed, by a bad, dishonest or unethical agent, or two.
I can only conclude they simply wanted no part of the bad name this guy obtained, by virtue of his wife’s awful judgement and actions.
And I don’t blame the real estate company, one bit. I would do the same thing, if I managed or owned it.
Now one might argue it isn’t fair, to fire him. Life isn’t entirely fair. He picked her.
she wound up dead over an internet hoax. how long was this "relationship" going on? didn't the parents check her activity when their daughter wasn't home? if not, they should have.
i have little sisters on myspace/facebook. i became a member mainly to keep up to date on their activities since they are so busy we hardly ever talk. i see who they hang out with, what they do, where they go, etc...
it's all public. when i see something i don't like or something questionable i ask them about it. i trust them, it's other people i am skeptical of.
these parents should have known ever friend and seen every correspondence. they obviously had no idea of this person who had such a hold over their daughter.
but i do blame lori about as much. it's just a sad situation.
Please read post #95 & read the link. It will show you more then you have assumed.
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