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Recently, we at TheFeed were asked to cease using aliases and write our posts under our given names. After a few minutes of raucous ballyhoo and appeals to the powers-that-be, the writers of TheFeed resigned ourselves to saying goodbye to our much-beloved internet anonymity.
Soon, you may know our pain. While some would argue that this crazy virtual world of teh Internetz depends on anonymity, we all may soon find out what the 'nets will be like if everyone was suddenly held accountable for their words and virtual actions.
On May 15th, a Missouri woman was indicted on three charges of lying about who she was... to MySpace. The story leading to the accusations is long and twisted, and it begins with the death of a 13 year-old girl named Megan Meier—the girl who may change the internet forever.
THE GIRL WHO MAY CHANGE EVERYTHING
Megan Meier grew up in Dardenne Prarie Missouri, a small suburb of St. Louis. Her parents describe Megan as a "bubbly, goofy" girl, who liked swimming, boating, and fishing. She was a member of her 7th Grade Volleyball Team at Fort Zumwalt West Middle School in nearby O'Fallon, Missouri.
From early in her childhood, Megan suffered from psychological issues. She was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and Depression. In the 3rd Grade, she contemplated suicide and had been seeing a therapist ever since. She considered herself overweight and had a contentious on-again-off-again friendship with a girl down the street.
Megan's parents, just in time for her 8th Grade Year, decided to transfer Megan from Fort Zumwalt to Immaculate Conception, a private school in Dardenne Prairie, in an effort to provide a more understanding and comfortable atmosphere for Megan.
As summer turned to fall in 2006, life seemed to be improving for Megan. Her depression appeared to be lifting, she had shed 20 pounds and school seemed to be going well. Since she appeared to be doing so much better, Megan's mother allowed her to open a MySpace account, an account Megan's parents would closely and rigorously monitor. Megan was actually not given the password to the account; only her parents had the ability to log in for her.
When Megan met Josh Evans in September of 2006, she didn't think things could get much better.
A TIMELINE
September 2006:
"Josh Evans", a 16 year-old boy, claims to have recently moved to nearby O'Fallon, Missouri and befriends Megan over MySpace. Megan is thrilled and comments to her mother repeatedly on how "hot" she thinks he is. Megan's mother allows the online friendship to continue under her supervision.
Megan's mother, Tina, would later say, "Megan had a lifelong struggle with weight and self-esteem [...] And now she finally had a boy who she thought really thought she was pretty."
Megan remarks that she thinks it's odd that "Josh" never asks for her phone number and when she asks for his, he says that he doesn't have a cell phone and they have not installed a land line yet.
October 15th, 2006:
"Josh Evans" breaks off the friendship via MySpace message by stating, "I don't know if I want to be friends with you anymore because I've heard that you are not very nice to your friends."
Megan's immediate response to "Josh" is, "What are you talking about?"
"Josh Evans" did not respond that night.
October 16th, 2006:
At school, Megan hands out invitations for her upcoming 14th birthday party. She returns home asks her mother if she can log into MySpace and check to see if "Josh" has responded. Tina, in a hurry to get Megan's younger sister to the orthodontist, logs in for Megan and prepares to leave.
"Evans" has responded with more upsetting messages. Tina, on her way out the door, tells Megan to log off. Megan promises that she will, saying, "Let me finish up."
Tina calls Megan from the orthodontist office to make sure that Megan has signed off. At this point, Megan is in tears, telling her mother, "They are all being so mean to me."
At this point, "Josh Evans" had been sharing private messages with some of Megan's other friends. Some friends joined in the cruel messages, making bulletins that would go out to everyone on their friends list with subject lines like, "Megan Meier is a slut" or "Megan Meier is fat."
Tina arrives home and finds Megan still at the computer. Tina gets Megan to stand up away from the computer and Tina reads the vulgar language her daughter had been using to respond the cruel attacks. She tells Megan, "I am so aggravated at you for doing this!"
As Megan leaves the room and heads upstairs for her bedroom, she yells at her mother, "You’re supposed to be my mom! You’re supposed to be on my side!"
Megan bumps into her father on the stairs, where she tells him what people had been saying about her over MySpace. He comforts her and tells her that it would be okay and that these people obviously don’t know her.
Twenty minutes later, Megan's parents enter her bedroom to find that Megan has hanged herself with a belt from her closet.
They immediately pull her down and her father attempts CPR while Tina calls for an ambulance.
October 17th, 2006:
Megan dies at the hospital. She is three weeks from turning 14.
Megan's father logs into his daughter's MySpace to read some the mean spirited messages for himself. The final message sent from Josh reads, "Everybody in O'Fallon knows who you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you."
AFTERMATH
Naturally, Ron and Tina Meier attempt to contact "Josh Evans". By the next day, his MySpace account has been deleted. Later on that day, the Meiers travel down the street to visit the girl who had once been Megan's friend to comfort her and let her know that, despite the arguments the two girls sometimes had, Megan valued her friendship.
The girls' parents, Lori and Curt Drew, ask the Meiers to store a foosball table (a Christmas gift for one of the Drew children) in their garage. The Meiers agree.
Six weeks after the death of their daughter, they were called into their counselor's office in O'Fallon by a neighbor that they did not know very well. The story they were told when they arrived would be nearly unfathomable.
"Josh Evans" did not exist. The boy the Meiers felt was largely responsible for what happened to Megan was an invention. He was created by a woman in their neighborhood. A woman on their street. A woman named Lori Drew.
That’s right. The woman who was mother to Megan's on-again-off-again friend, the woman who had asked Ron and Tina to store a foosball table for them, was the creator and mastermind behind the non-existent "Josh Evans". Apparently, the character of "Josh Evans" had been created as a way for Lori to determine what bad things Megan might have been saying about her daughter.
The neighbor claimed to have discovered all this from her own daughter, who had "joined in on the joke." She even claims that on the night Megan died, while the ambulance was still at the Meier's, her daughter received a phone call from Lori Drew saying that something had happened to Megan and that it would be best not to mention the fake MySpace account.
Upon returning home from the meeting, the Meier’s took to the foosball table in their garage with an axe and a sledgehammer. They dumped the obliterated remains into a box and dropped it off on the driveway of the Drew’s with the message, "Merry Christmas" written on the side.
The story remained out of the media for over a year, as the FBI and County officials tried determine if there were grounds for a criminal case.
Steve Pokin of the St. Charles County Examiner published a story on Sunday, November 11, 2007 about the events surrounding the suicide of Megan Meier. The article stopped short of naming Lori Drew as the creator of the account, but the story caught like wildfire over the Internet. Bloggers the country over expressed outrage that nothing had been done for over a year to help Megan find "justice".
Based on the details of the story, it did not take long for the blogging community to find the name of Lori Drew. Within hours she was the focal point of the internet's hatred, blaming her for the death of the 13 year-old girl from Dardenne Prairie.
On December 3, 2007, St. Charles County, Missouri prosecutor Jack Banas revealed that he had reviewed the laws related to stalking, harassment, and child endangerment and couldn't find statutes allowing him to file charges against Lori Drew or anyone involved.
At this point, the outrage grew, hitting mainstream media outlets, such as CNN and ABC News.
Then, on May 15th, 2008, Lori Drew was indicted on Federal charges for her role in the MySpace hoax. She is charged with one count of Conspiracy and 3 counts of Accessing Protected Computers Without Authorization.
more here
very sad. but weak people should not be on the internet and this story proves me right. but to go this far is just wrong. the DS has spoken.
Soon, you may know our pain. While some would argue that this crazy virtual world of teh Internetz depends on anonymity, we all may soon find out what the 'nets will be like if everyone was suddenly held accountable for their words and virtual actions.
On May 15th, a Missouri woman was indicted on three charges of lying about who she was... to MySpace. The story leading to the accusations is long and twisted, and it begins with the death of a 13 year-old girl named Megan Meier—the girl who may change the internet forever.
THE GIRL WHO MAY CHANGE EVERYTHING
Megan Meier grew up in Dardenne Prarie Missouri, a small suburb of St. Louis. Her parents describe Megan as a "bubbly, goofy" girl, who liked swimming, boating, and fishing. She was a member of her 7th Grade Volleyball Team at Fort Zumwalt West Middle School in nearby O'Fallon, Missouri.
From early in her childhood, Megan suffered from psychological issues. She was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and Depression. In the 3rd Grade, she contemplated suicide and had been seeing a therapist ever since. She considered herself overweight and had a contentious on-again-off-again friendship with a girl down the street.
Megan's parents, just in time for her 8th Grade Year, decided to transfer Megan from Fort Zumwalt to Immaculate Conception, a private school in Dardenne Prairie, in an effort to provide a more understanding and comfortable atmosphere for Megan.
As summer turned to fall in 2006, life seemed to be improving for Megan. Her depression appeared to be lifting, she had shed 20 pounds and school seemed to be going well. Since she appeared to be doing so much better, Megan's mother allowed her to open a MySpace account, an account Megan's parents would closely and rigorously monitor. Megan was actually not given the password to the account; only her parents had the ability to log in for her.
When Megan met Josh Evans in September of 2006, she didn't think things could get much better.
A TIMELINE
September 2006:
"Josh Evans", a 16 year-old boy, claims to have recently moved to nearby O'Fallon, Missouri and befriends Megan over MySpace. Megan is thrilled and comments to her mother repeatedly on how "hot" she thinks he is. Megan's mother allows the online friendship to continue under her supervision.
Megan's mother, Tina, would later say, "Megan had a lifelong struggle with weight and self-esteem [...] And now she finally had a boy who she thought really thought she was pretty."
Megan remarks that she thinks it's odd that "Josh" never asks for her phone number and when she asks for his, he says that he doesn't have a cell phone and they have not installed a land line yet.
October 15th, 2006:
"Josh Evans" breaks off the friendship via MySpace message by stating, "I don't know if I want to be friends with you anymore because I've heard that you are not very nice to your friends."
Megan's immediate response to "Josh" is, "What are you talking about?"
"Josh Evans" did not respond that night.
October 16th, 2006:
At school, Megan hands out invitations for her upcoming 14th birthday party. She returns home asks her mother if she can log into MySpace and check to see if "Josh" has responded. Tina, in a hurry to get Megan's younger sister to the orthodontist, logs in for Megan and prepares to leave.
"Evans" has responded with more upsetting messages. Tina, on her way out the door, tells Megan to log off. Megan promises that she will, saying, "Let me finish up."
Tina calls Megan from the orthodontist office to make sure that Megan has signed off. At this point, Megan is in tears, telling her mother, "They are all being so mean to me."
At this point, "Josh Evans" had been sharing private messages with some of Megan's other friends. Some friends joined in the cruel messages, making bulletins that would go out to everyone on their friends list with subject lines like, "Megan Meier is a slut" or "Megan Meier is fat."
Tina arrives home and finds Megan still at the computer. Tina gets Megan to stand up away from the computer and Tina reads the vulgar language her daughter had been using to respond the cruel attacks. She tells Megan, "I am so aggravated at you for doing this!"
As Megan leaves the room and heads upstairs for her bedroom, she yells at her mother, "You’re supposed to be my mom! You’re supposed to be on my side!"
Megan bumps into her father on the stairs, where she tells him what people had been saying about her over MySpace. He comforts her and tells her that it would be okay and that these people obviously don’t know her.
Twenty minutes later, Megan's parents enter her bedroom to find that Megan has hanged herself with a belt from her closet.
They immediately pull her down and her father attempts CPR while Tina calls for an ambulance.
October 17th, 2006:
Megan dies at the hospital. She is three weeks from turning 14.
Megan's father logs into his daughter's MySpace to read some the mean spirited messages for himself. The final message sent from Josh reads, "Everybody in O'Fallon knows who you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you."
AFTERMATH
Naturally, Ron and Tina Meier attempt to contact "Josh Evans". By the next day, his MySpace account has been deleted. Later on that day, the Meiers travel down the street to visit the girl who had once been Megan's friend to comfort her and let her know that, despite the arguments the two girls sometimes had, Megan valued her friendship.
The girls' parents, Lori and Curt Drew, ask the Meiers to store a foosball table (a Christmas gift for one of the Drew children) in their garage. The Meiers agree.
Six weeks after the death of their daughter, they were called into their counselor's office in O'Fallon by a neighbor that they did not know very well. The story they were told when they arrived would be nearly unfathomable.
"Josh Evans" did not exist. The boy the Meiers felt was largely responsible for what happened to Megan was an invention. He was created by a woman in their neighborhood. A woman on their street. A woman named Lori Drew.
That’s right. The woman who was mother to Megan's on-again-off-again friend, the woman who had asked Ron and Tina to store a foosball table for them, was the creator and mastermind behind the non-existent "Josh Evans". Apparently, the character of "Josh Evans" had been created as a way for Lori to determine what bad things Megan might have been saying about her daughter.
The neighbor claimed to have discovered all this from her own daughter, who had "joined in on the joke." She even claims that on the night Megan died, while the ambulance was still at the Meier's, her daughter received a phone call from Lori Drew saying that something had happened to Megan and that it would be best not to mention the fake MySpace account.
Upon returning home from the meeting, the Meier’s took to the foosball table in their garage with an axe and a sledgehammer. They dumped the obliterated remains into a box and dropped it off on the driveway of the Drew’s with the message, "Merry Christmas" written on the side.
The story remained out of the media for over a year, as the FBI and County officials tried determine if there were grounds for a criminal case.
Steve Pokin of the St. Charles County Examiner published a story on Sunday, November 11, 2007 about the events surrounding the suicide of Megan Meier. The article stopped short of naming Lori Drew as the creator of the account, but the story caught like wildfire over the Internet. Bloggers the country over expressed outrage that nothing had been done for over a year to help Megan find "justice".
Based on the details of the story, it did not take long for the blogging community to find the name of Lori Drew. Within hours she was the focal point of the internet's hatred, blaming her for the death of the 13 year-old girl from Dardenne Prairie.
On December 3, 2007, St. Charles County, Missouri prosecutor Jack Banas revealed that he had reviewed the laws related to stalking, harassment, and child endangerment and couldn't find statutes allowing him to file charges against Lori Drew or anyone involved.
At this point, the outrage grew, hitting mainstream media outlets, such as CNN and ABC News.
Then, on May 15th, 2008, Lori Drew was indicted on Federal charges for her role in the MySpace hoax. She is charged with one count of Conspiracy and 3 counts of Accessing Protected Computers Without Authorization.
more here
very sad. but weak people should not be on the internet and this story proves me right. but to go this far is just wrong. the DS has spoken.
