Facebook Fake Lures Teen Nona Belomesoff Into Death Trap, Say Cops; Job Offer Ends in Murder

By: Kealan Oliver
Topics: Daily Blotter

Nona Belomesoff (Personal Photo)

NEW YORK (CBS) Rescuing injured animals is all 18-year-old Australian Nona Belomesoff wanted to do. Instead, her best intentions led to her murder, say police, allegedly by a 20-year-old man who used Facebook to lure her on a trip to save injured animals.

Twenty-year-old Christopher James Dannevig is charged with murdering the young woman at a creek south of Sydney, reports BBC News.

Belomesoff's body was found Friday night, May 14, two days after she went on the trip with the man. Detectives believe the young girl befriended the suspect on Facebook, because she was interested in working with animals. He had allegedly set up a fake profile claiming he worked for an animal welfare group, reports the BBC.

Dannevig allegedly offered the victim a possible job opportunity with the organization, to help injured animals around Campbelltown, New South Wales, says the news agency.

According to the BBC, Belomesoff's brother Gary said, "She loved animals and saw this as an opportunity to follow her dream." He said, "Nona said if she didn't go she would lose her job and this job was her dream...So she just went and that was the last time we saw her."

Detective Russell Oxford said the case demonstrates the dangers of trusting strangers on social networking sites: "It's an area where predators and perverts and other people just get onto. You just don't know who you could be talking to," he said.

3 Comments Have Your Say
Email Story Send to a Friend
Share This Tell Your Friends
Tweet This Tweet This
More Share It

Add a Comment


by tigerine20 June 9, 2010 6:45 AM EDT: I find the problem in not enough cybersafety teams to report and deal with computer crimes. Often these types of men that use fake identities have friends that know what they are doing, or other victims that are aware they fake identities. Only problem is no one acts on them. The police cannot act on the harm done to others on the net. We have cybercrime laws in Australia, but they don't seem to involve the police.
This is just an example of a fake page used by a man who repeatedly places up fake pages and passes them around facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=100001173788416&ref=ts; Reply to this comment


by Wildwood1966 May 18, 2010 4:14 PM EDT: too sad but we hear it so often - when can we get anybody to believe us? If it sounds too good to be true - it is - don't get on a social network and decide to "meet" at least not alone - her whole life ahead of her -; Reply to this comment