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Megan Meier – A MySpace Suicide Victim
Posted by shadmia on November 19, 2007
Megan Meier a 13-year-old teenager from Dardenne Prairie, Mo is dead. She committed suicide on Oct. 16, 2006. That final act ended the life of a troubled teen searching for acceptance and love. It also caused the break-up of her parents’ marriage. But most of all it was the culmination of a very cruel prank played upon an extremely vulnerable young girl. The following is a story of deceit, revenge and cruelty.
Megan loved swimming, boating, fishing, dogs, rap music and boys. But her life had not always been easy. She had struggled with depression and had attention deficit disorder (ADD). In third grade she had talked about committing suicide and had been going to see a counselor ever since. She was also overweight for her 5 foot 5 1/2 inch frame, weighting as much as 195lbs. But things were beginning to look up for Megan.
She had just started eighth grade at a new school, Immaculate Conception, in Dardenne Prairie, where she was on the volleyball team. She had lost 20lbs. She also decided to break off with her 7th grade girlfriend with whom she had an on-again-off-again friendship……and she found a new friend, a boy she met on MySpace named Josh Evans.
Josh was 16 years old and according to Megan he was hot. Megan got her Mom’s approval to add him as a friend to her MySpace page. Her mom, Tina Meier, was always careful to monitor who Megan talked to. Josh was born in Florida and recently had moved to O’Fallon. He was home-schooled. He played the guitar and drums. He was also from a broken home and told her:
“when i was 7 my dad left me and my mom and my older brother and my newborn brother 3 boys god i know poor mom yeah she had such a hard time when we were younger finding work to pay for us after he left.”
“Megan had a lifelong struggle with weight and self-esteem,” Tina says. “And now she finally had a boy who she thought really thought she was pretty.”
Things went well for a time and Megan was always rushing home from school to talk to her new friend. On Oct. 15th things took a strange twist. Josh sent her the following note:
“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 was puzzled and asked him what he meant and wondered who he had been talking to. The next day Megan handed out invitations at school to her upcoming 14th birthday party and when she got home asked her mom to log on so she could see if Josh had answered her questions. She was very upset when she learned that Josh had suddenly become very cruel to her. Her mom was on her way to an appointment and told Megan to sign off the computer. Megan did not. Shortly afterwards Megan called her mom in tears and told her that people were calling her a slut and that she was fat. She was sobbing hysterically. Tina was furious that Megan had not signed off when she was told to do so. Once Tina returned home she rushed into the basement where the computer was. Tina was shocked at the vulgar language her daughter was firing back at people. Tina scolded her daughter: “I am so aggravated at you for doing this!” she told Megan.
Megan ran from the computer and left, but not without first telling Tina, “You’re supposed to be my mom! You’re supposed to be on my side!”
On her way to her room Megan ran into her father Ron and told him what was happening. He tried to console her telling her everything would be OK. That would be the last time either of them would see Megan alive. Twenty minutes later her mom would find her in her bedroom. She had hung herself, using a belt, in her closet.
As tragic as this story is, this was not the end. Six weeks after Megan’s suicide, her family found out that Josh Evans never existed. He was created by the mother of Megan’s 7th grade friend in order to spy on Megan.
NOTE:
Before continuing with this story, I would like to add a personal comment. There have been various accounts in the news media detailing the events of Megan Meier’s suicide. Most sources have refused to name the person responsible for the creation of the fake identity called Josh Evans. They cite concern for the teenage daughter of the perpetrator. Some feel that by publishing the name, justice may somehow be put in jeopardy. Since no-one has yet been charged with any crime, some argue that this person should remain anonymous. I do not share this opinion. Curt and Lori Drew are the parents of the teenage daughter that was friends with Megan. It was Lori Drew who created the fake identity of Josh Evans. She has admitted this to the police.
The Drew’s were close friends and neighbors of the Meier’s. They live on the same street. They attended both the wake and funeral of Megan Meier, knowing fully well that they were responsible for her death. They deceived everyone. They deserve to have their name published and be held accountable for their actions. According to the authorities, no crimes have been committed. But whether or not a crime has been committed, Lori Drew is directly responsible for the suicide death of Megan Meier.
After the deception was discovered, Ron and Tina Meier went to the police and even got the FBI involved in the case. They were told to keep the matter quiet and let the authorities handle the case. One year later, with no charges being filed, they were told that there was nothing to be done. The police could find nothing to charge anybody with. That is when the Meier’s took their story public.
For follow up interviews and news stories see the links below:
Megan’s Story 2 Megan’s Story 3 Megan’s Story 4 Megan’s Story 5
SHADMIA'S WORLD 
dancnkc said
For those of you who feel powerless against this injustice, please read. You are not powerless.. Public pressure CAN result in the proper handling of this case as it has many times before.
Example:
About a month ago, a child nearly drowned in the family swimming pool. The child was pulled inside the house to try to recessitate the child.
A cop who showed up after paramedics arrived, ran into the house and slipped on the wet floor. A floor wet, because the child was soaking wet.
After the cop received full pay for her workman’s comp claim…and after all of the cops medical bills were paid….this cop proceeded to sue the family of the boy who is now a vegitable.
Public outrage and anger lead to the cop’s suspension from the force…and the cop was finally forced to repeal her case.
Story Here:
http://www.care2.com/news/member/287909686/506421
Had this story been covered up and hidden, this cop would have gone forward and sued this grieving family while their child was still in intensive care.
See… you do have a voice… public pressure can give a victim a small amount of justice.
Megan Meier deserves at least a little justice in all this – not just some new law named after her.
If you feel the adult child predator in this case should bear some kind of responsibility to her part in this, then make sure your voice is heard.
Ms Drew could set this up on your child next…
Even if you watch your child like a hawk….remember the following.
Your child’s friends have computers.
Your child’s school has computers…
Libraries have computers…
If your child desperately desires to get to a computer, they will find one eventually…
And Ms. Drew, and others like her are waiting.
Justice deserves to prevail here…and so far it has NOT!
Danny Vice
http://dannyvicegrip.blogspot.com/
dancnkc said
As details about Lori Drew’s 6 week cyber-voyeur techniques emerge, I am more convinced that outing this kind of behavior is not only right, but essential. Essential? Really?
It is becoming clearer everyday that Lori Drew employed many of the same grooming techniques that child predators utilize to charm their way into gaining a child’s trust. The most significant key here is that Lori Drew spent approximately 6 full weeks baiting Megan into this trust by posing as a “cute” boy that Megan would be attracted to.
Right here, Drew utilizes the sexual stimulation that exists in male/female pair bonding in order to manipulate the 13 year old girl.
Lori Drew groomed her victim like many child predators do, enticing her with flirtation, mild sexual conversation and playing on Megan’s weakness. Lori knew that Megan had a low self esteem and was treated for depression.
There are uncanny parallels between the typical Child Predator MOA and those utilized by Lori Drew to control and manipulate Megan in the relationship Lori developed with her.
Outing Child Predators has been public policy in most states and is usually upheld under the premise that the public has a right to reasonably protect itself from criminal behavior where it exists. Families with children have a right to know when those who might prey upon their child, live nearby. Public policy dictates that if a child is exposed to potential harm from predatory activity, then parents should at least have the opportunity to be aware such harm may exist.
But what if a child predator confesses to a crime, but is never convicted? Does the potential for risk exist despite the legal process?
Thus far, details in the case have been heavily supported by Lori Drew’s own admissions, police records and interviews. The amount of speculation in this case has been minimal, and the majority of public outrage has largely focused on the facts presented.
The Missouri Public Records Act of 1961 was enacted partially to inform the public of persons, events, proceedings and reports that may effect the public directly. The records (such as the charges Lori Drew filed against the Meier family), were the principal documents used to tie Lori Drew to her abhorrent acts. By filing this police report, Lori in effect put herself into the spot light. The Blogging community simply connected the dots and reported the results.
The Vice enjoys the sharp irony that Lori Drew’s own actions, activities and zeal to hurt someone eventually lead to her own uncovering. As I see it, public policy laws and Lori Drew’s own manipulations of those laws worked to her undoing. The Vice is appreciative for Lori Drew’s assistance in these efforts.
Danny Vice
http://weeklyvice.blogspot.com
shadmia said
Danny,
I agree with you. She (Lori Drew) was manipulating this poor girl’s feelings. She had an agenda. She is a predator. But above and beyond all that where is the justice?? Even if the legality of what Lori did is questionable there is the morality of it. Lori, by her actions caused this girl to commit suicide. She is in effect a murderer and it just seem wrong that nothing can be done about it.
Shaun Dawson
dancnkc said
On Wednesday, October 21st, city officials enacted an ordinance designed to address the public outcry for justice in the Megan Meier tragedy. The six member Board of Aldermen made Internet harassment a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a $500 fine and 90 days in jail.
Does this new law provide any justice for Megan? Does this law provide equitable relief for a future victim or actually weaken the current law?
I reject the premise of this new law and believe it completely misses the mark. The reasoning behind this opinion is that city officials have consistently treated this case as an Internet harassment case instead of a child welfare/exploitation case.
Classifying this case a harassment issue completely fails to address the most serious aspects of the methods Lori Drew employed to lead this youth to her demise. The Vice disagrees that harassment was even a factor in this case until just a couple of days before Megan’s death.
Considering this case a harassment issue is incorrect because during the 5 weeks Lori Drew baited and groomed her victim, the attention was NOT unwanted attention. It was not harassment at all. It was invited attention. Megan participated in the conversations willingly because she was lured, manipulated and exploited without her knowledge.
This law willfully sets a precedent that future child exploiters and predators can use to reclassify their cases to harassment issues. In effect, the law enacted to give Megan justice, may make her even more vulnerable. So long as the child victim doesn’t tell the predator to stop, even a harassment charge may not stick with the right circumstances and a good defender.
Every aspect of this case follows the same procedural requirement used to convict a Child Predator. A child was manipulated by an adult. A child was engaged in sexually explicit conversation (as acknowledged by Lori Drew herself). An adult imposed her will on a child by misleading her, using a profile designed to sexually or intimately attract the 13 year old Megan.
Lori then utilized the power she had gained over this child to cause significant distress and endangerment to that child. She even stipulated to many of these activities in the police report she filed shortly after Megan’s death.
We can go on and on here, but the parallels between this case and many other child predator cases that are successfully prosecuted bear striking similarities.
Child Predator laws do not require much more than simply proving that an adult has engaged a minor in sexually explicit conversation. Lori Drew has already stipulated that her conversations with Megan were sometimes sexual for a child Megan’s age.
City officials who continue to ignore this viable, documented admission and continue to address this issue as harassment are intentionally burying their heads in the sand, when the solution is staring them right in the face. Why?
On June 5th, 2006, Governor Matt Blunt signed into law stiff penalties for convicted sex offenders. The Vice believes that officials continually reject a child predator classification of this case in order to keep the penalty of this offense out of this harsher realm.
Opponents of this law are active in defeating this law not by changing it, but by disqualifying cases like Megan’s from ever being heard.
There are several other child exploitation laws on the books. To date, none of them have even been considered by City, State and Federal officials in this case. I’m outraged that a motion was never even filed, so that the case could at least be argued before a judge or jury.
Those satisfied with this response out of Missouri officials need to think through the effect this law will truly have. It quite honestly has the potential to directly undermine Jessica’s law. It quiet easily gives prosecutors a way out of prosecuting child endangerment and child predator cases in the future.
Beware the wolf in sheep’s clothing here.
Danny Vice
http://weeklyvice.blogspot.com
Joshua said
The Meiers ought to consult an attorney. The Drews engaged in a conspiracy to intentionally inflict emotional distress. The did tghis with knowledge that Megan was emotionally disturbed and had attempted suicide before. Therefore it was forseeable that their actions would trigger another incident. They ought to sue the Drews and drive them into the poorhouse, At the very least take their home so they can get them off the street.
dancnkc said
The naming of Lori Drew has sparked quite a debate indeed. Some major news outlets have chosen to name the perpetrator(s) behind this story such as the New York Times. Some have chosen not to. The mainstream media however has concluded that the blogging community should shoulder the responsibility of first naming the perpetrator behind this story.
The first question I have in this debate is simple. What is new here? Since before the French Revolution, the media has been used to ‘out’ individuals who’s actions seem to bear public relevancy in some way.
Although Lori Drew has not yet been charged in the case of Megan Meier, the media has never required formal charges to be made before running a story. In the case of some journalist like Dan Rather, some media outlets run with stories before even confirming that they’re true.
In this particular case, media outlets that have chosen to withhold Lori Drew’s identity have done so in consideration of other Drew family members.
I’m wondering if by doing this, the media plans to always withhold the names of interesting persons who outrage the community, if those persons have children. This would certainly be quite a ground-breaking event
Right at this moment, there is a story of a cop who is under investigation in the strange death of one wife and the disappearance of another. The cop in the story has a family, yet the media huddles outside his home relentlessly.
I could go back and list thousands of stories where the media wasted no time in delivering the names and occupations of individuals that were later cleared of any wrong-doing. I’ve never heard of another instance where the media apologized for naming names.
Don Henley’s ‘Dirty Laundry’ certainly applies well to conduct of most major news outlets.
Lori Drew is a primary subject of the story, she is not a rape victim, and is not a minor. Identifying her breaks no new ground, nor does it deviate from what news outlets do on a daily basis.
I also remind readers that her name and her role in the Megan Meier tragedy were documented as public record. A public record that Lori filed on her own accord. This is a critically important fact in this debate.
News outlets, bloggers and the general public were handed Lori’s name and Lori’s own self admissions when she herself filed that police report and sought to elevate the entire situation into the public domain.
Had Lori Drew simply acknowledged what she did was wrong, and apologized – the police report that identified her may have never been filed, and the entire situation may have well been kept at the lowest profile.
Will we see the media write about this? Not likely.
Danny Vice
http://weeklyvice.blogspot.com
Frank Keller said
Oh this is SO wrong! The FBI & the other law enforcement professionals were/are negligent as hell in this predatorial death-wish by proxy, which is EXACTLY what this was. When someone is known to be “mental” & tried previous suicide, & other someones act with impunity to do extreme emotional damage to this person, DAMN STRAIGHT some kind of law has to have been broken.
Tina Meier should reconsider her civil lawsuit, as it does not matter that “she doesn’t think” the kid’s mother had the intention of her daughter actually killing herself over this. I’d even bet the mother put her son up to the actual last email, verbatim, the evil rotten bitch!
No, what matters is that an adult intentionally & with impunity, used 100% predatorial gorilla tactics to go after a minor with intent to emotional harm said minor (no matter what her lame excuse was).
A jury would find her, her husband, & her punk kids guilty quicker than they found OJ in his civil case.
Someone needs to get this message to Tina Meier!
bkra2513 said
Why doesn’t Tina Meier look sympathetic at all about the loss of her daughter and why would someone commit suicide over someone they never knew in person???
JB said
Tina doesn’t need to look sympathetic. She looks angry, and like she hasn’t slept in a year. Who could blame her… Bkra2513 you clearly missed the point. It’s about child endangerment. Scroll back up, Drew is a predator, who targets children.
dancnkc said
While the Megan Meier case seems outrageous and unique, it isn’t unique. Hundreds of cases of egregious and heinous acts go on every day with the same excuses out of our lawmakers.
One such other case….The case of Nikki Catsouras, is a classic example of disgusting, hateful activity against innocent victims, while our lawmakers excuse themselves from enacting laws to prevent this.
The excuse lawmakers use to let themselves off the hook stem from the growth of the Internet and how fast it’s changing. This is a sham.
Chat rooms, message boards, instant messengers and email have been in existence for far over a decade now. While the software used to transmit messages changes slightly, the basic essence of using the Internet to send a message is largely the same. Is a decade or two long enough to establish some basic decency laws in regards to Internet usage?
I’ve posted the Nikki Catsouras story along with many details about the Megan Meier case so the inactivity out of our lawmakers towards these types of cases can be clearly seen.
Those who are interested in learning about cases like Megan’s and Nikki’s case are encouraged to drop by and comment on them if you like. I have a couple of polls set up as well. Danny Vice would like to hear your point of view.
Public awareness of the problem and discussions about possible solutions are the best way to pressure elected officials into action instead of excuse making.
I invite you to come by and share your opinion.
Danny Vice
http://weeklyvice.blogspot.com
shadmia said
Danny, You have done an excellent job covering this story. I encourage everyone who reads this to check out Danny’s site and share your opinions.
Shaun Dawson
dancnkc said
Thank you Shaun. Kudos to you as well. =)
Sara said
Yes! Ty Danny for great covering a good example of ‘citizen journalism’ idd =)
Liz said
Anyone that blames Lori Drew is nuts! Life is tough and Megan obviously was a mental wreck. Do you think this would have not happened down the road when she was rejected by a boy as girls are everyday. Would we charge him with murder for breaking up with her? What if she had a bad grade or failed a subject entirely? Would we prosecute her teachers? Maybe everyone should realize there is more than one side to a story. Maybe Megan did things to make Lori Drew’s daughter upset. Who knows, kids are cruel and spread rumors like wildfire. Maybe instead of holding Lori Drew responsible for Megan’s suicide, we should hold Megan’s parents responsible for not having prepared their daughter better for life’s ups & downs. Besides all of this, there are many many more issues that effect many people that deserve a lot more attention than this.
Liz said
Oh, and as far as that Nikki Catsouras goes….. That spoiled brat could have killed someone else, one of your loved ones or maybe one of you bloggers while having her little fit on the road with her father’s porsche. Keep that in mind that she obviously only cared about herself.
Judge Overturns Lori Drew’s Conviction « SHADMIA’S WORLD said
[…] The trial was over. Lori Drew,49, had been convicted by a jury of three misdemeanor charges of gaining unauthorized access to MySpace computers. Click here for the background story. […]