Neighbor Family Manipulates Suicidal Teen

13-Year-Old Kills Self After Rejection By An Online Friend Who Never Even Existed

(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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

[eggy1620]

Solution to the bully problem: eliminate all group schooling. Every kid will be homeschooled from now on. Prohibit dual income families. If there are two or more kids in a family, they must be separately home schooled to eliminate the potential for bullying. Keep kids in the dark about the outside world, the existence of other children, the existence of risk to health & safety, for the first 18 years of their lives. Then, turn them loose.

[servantgrl7]

Matthew 18:

8: Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.

9: And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

In this passage of scripture, God doesn''t mean literally to pluck ur eye out. What He means is, if there is something in ur life causing u to stray from God, such as lust, remove it from your life! you can''t just take a verse in God''s word and define it in ur own terms. u have to study it, look at the corresponding verses.Be careful wut u say on here referring to Christianity. it can be very offensive...

[dmhphils]

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.
================================================

Megan was 13, suffered from depression and ADD and was on medication. Nothing is going to "be fine" when you are in that condition. Megan needed much more involved monitoring than what she was given. Instead of finding her life in cyber space where everyone and anyone is unidentifiable and therefore mostly unaccountable, she should have been involved with her friends in reality. They should have seen something coming.

She was described as a "bubbly, goofy girl who loved spending time with her friends." That doesn''t sound like depression. Some are so quick to get teenagers and younger on meds.

[vrum1]

First off, I pray for this little girl%u2019s soul.

Those who %u201Cshould%u201D no better used their own imagination to ploy with a child mind is very disturbing when they in fact have children of the same age.

If a parent wants to know who their child is talking to, then maybe they should to the parental thing, by sitting they%u2019re making their child uncomfortable, so they stay tune with their lives.

Pray for peace, and God Bless You.

[glaswolf]

People are warned so often that much of what in on the web may not be true. A few years ago I met a woman who became so addicted to chat rooms she had to step back for awhile when realizing the time and mental occupation. They created illusions of identity among presumably adults, a little like a psycho sport internetting into the consciousness of global humanity. Some people get lost, but the bulk mass of citizens should not suffer retardation of their progress due to the weak minded. We don''t need kneejerk laws bearing dysfunction.

[shanev137]

I''m suing all of you people on here, because your comments have caused me extreme pain and suffering.

You will be hearing from my lawyers tomorrow.

In the future if you wish to avoid lawsuits it''s very simple...just always tell me what I want to hear and I won''t sue you.

[cdawngo]

Unfortunately, if there is not a law that can prosecute them, they will be covered by ex post facto law which states one cannot be tried for a crime that was not considered a crime by law when it was commited.
Vengence is mine- said the Lord. By all means grieve,but allow the Lord to handle the rest. What goes around does infact come back around. It is a sad fact that these people that coereced and mainpulated a young girl and her trust are called "Parents" I do worry for the welfare of their children.
I will pray for healing and please leave the vengence to the Lord, besides he does a much better job(just slower than we''d like) than any human can ever do!

[reginaregina]

"So if people''''s behavior can''''t be negatively affected by the behavior of others, then suing for divorce on the grounds of emotional abuse is a crock, right?"

Posted by ibsteve2u at 09:53 AM : Nov 18, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn''t say any such thing. Divorce (dissolution of a social contract) is certainly justified when there is emotional abuse. In this case, the abusers and the victim were not married, so your analogy is irrelevant. You''re talking about two entirely different things.

What these people did DOES constitute emotional abuse of different circumstances, in fact. But that cannot CAUSE another person to commit suicide. Suicide must come from within a person---no exterior force can cause it unless the (diseased) predisposition is already there. That''s a well-researched and well-documented medical fact.

It''s similar to saying that giving a person a margarita at a dinner party caused him to become alcoholic. That''s not possible. It can cause an alcoholic to fall off the wagon and resume alcoholic behavior, but only if he was already an alcoholic in the first place. That''s not the fault of the host.

[jetranger7]

Maybe someone could manipulate the idiot neighbor responsible for this, to play with matches and gunpowder & gasoline, and well you know the story, BYE, BYE or would it be Boom, Boom,Boom !!!!

[erichsh]

RE-POST:
This is allegedly who killed Megan:

Curt and Lori Drew
269 Waterford Crystal Dr
Dardenne Prairie, Mo 63368

This according to http://bluemerle.blogspot.com/2007/11/wh
at-you-said-to-megan-meier.html

(I hope they''''re right)

[erichsh]

No, zootallures2, people like YOU are what''s wrong. How DARE you hold out one sick individual (who I identified by name in a previous post) as representative of an ENTIRE COUNTRY! Quite a stretch, don''t you think? With a poisoned mindset like yours, you''re part of the problem, not the solution.

[zootallures2]

This is why AmeriKKKans make me sick. What are you morons missing in this story? You have nice houses, cars, computers... and this is how you sub-monkeys use it and appreciate it all. To take advanage of and kill a 13 year old. Maybe if you starved and were being bombed like those who suffer for your nonsense, you''d have better things on your tiny little minds.

[missingamerica]

No one can "push" another into suicide. That''s something that has to come from within.

Posted by ReginaRegina at 09:22 AM : Nov 18, 2007

So if people''s behavior can''t be negatively affected by the behavior of others, then suing for divorce on the grounds of emotional abuse is a crock, right?

[reginaregina]

"Moral of the story: Don''t let your kids surf online talking to strangers. Kids need real friends, not the cyber kind. Better yet, put the computer away and spend more time with your kids."

Posted by incog-nito at 10:57 PM : Nov 17, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Abso-freaking-lutely!!!!!!!

Don''t get me wrong, I think the adult(s) involved in creating the fake "Josh" profile are despicable for doing that to a young girl, but that doesn''t make them responsible for her death. No one can "push" another into suicide. That''s something that has to come from within.

After watching the victim''s parents this morning on the Today Show, I got the distinct impression that they totally failed her as parents. They shouldn''t be going around pointing fingers.

[susanhelit]

I''m too nice - but I''d love to see the 3 people''s names and internet aliases posted. Wonder how well they can take what they dish out?

[Wookiee-1138]

I''d like to see them try to enforce such an ordinance. After all, it''s just a bundle of tubes.

[jsilver2th]

For the sake of this young victim I can only hope that there is an aggressive federal or state prosecutor who is outraged...

[ladyephesus1]

The girl was looking for love and acceptance.
I dont understand why her parents allowed this and didnt monitor this online thing closely.
She was harrassed online by an adult and some jealous kids.When children are online, you must ask questions and always check their profiles frequently. If not, once a week to check on it and them.
I have my daughters password to myspace and shes 17 yrs old. I dont take chances for nobody!!
All you have to do is request the password and it is sent to their email account.
Parents should always make sure they have their kids passwords. No supervision here whatsoever.

Sick!!

[ov442]

I love how people constantly post on CBS about how they think people need to take responsibility for themselves.. yet whenever some terrible human being victimizes another one, they blame the victim or their family because they werent tough enough or smart enough, or aggressive enough to keep from being victimized... yet they never blame the one committing the obscene, evil act.
Wonderful sense of justice.

Dont you people understand that just because someone is a victim doesnt mean they are of bad character or not worth anything. in fact Victims are usually very good people that are trusting of the general good in the world.
Victimizers are evil. They see prey and they attack. For their own self indulgence and gratification. You are blaming the wrong people.
The one that commits the act or crime is the one to blame, not the victim or their family or friends.

[shanev137]

but incog...if these parents didn''t allow their kids to surf and talk to strangers on the internet....who will they be able to blame when bad things happen to their kids? lol