In Suburbia, Internet Hoax Turns into Tragedy for Family of 13-Year- Old

By Christopher Maag

DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Missouri

Megan Meier died believing that somewhere in this world lived a boy named Josh Evans who hated her. He was 16 and owned a pet snake, and she thought he was the cutest boyfriend she ever had.

Josh made contact with Megan through her page on MySpace.com, the social networking Web site, said Megan’s mother, Tina Meier. They flirted for weeks, but only online – Josh said his family had no phone. On Oct. 15, 2006, Josh suddenly turned mean. He called Megan names, and later they traded insults for an hour.

The next day, in his final message, said Megan’s father, Ron Meier, Josh wrote, “The world would be a better place without you.”

Sobbing, Megan ran into her bedroom closet. Her mother found her there, hanging from a belt. She was 13.

Six weeks after Megan’s death, her parents learned that Josh Evans had never existed. He was an online character created by Lori Drew, then 47, who lived four houses down the street in this rapidly growing community 35 miles, or 66 kilometers, from St. Louis, Missouri.

That an adult would plot such a cruel hoax against a 13-year-old girl has drawn outraged phone calls, e-mail messages and blog posts from around the world. Many people expressed anger because St. Charles County officials had not charged Drew with a crime.

But Lieutenant Craig McGuire, a spokesman for the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department, said what Drew had done “might’ve been rude, it might’ve been immature, but it wasn’t illegal.”

The case underscores how the pervasiveness of the Internet in many young people’s lives can be easily abused, with consequences that can be devastating.

In response to the events, the local Board of Aldermen passed a measure making Internet harassment a misdemeanor punishable by a $500 fine and 90 days in jail.

“Give me a break; that’s nothing,” Mayor Pam Fogarty said of the penalties. “But it’s the most we could do. People are saying to me, ‘Let’s go burn down their house.’ “

The prosecuting attorney of St. Charles County, Jack Banas, said he was reviewing the case to determine whether anyone could be charged with a crime. A state representative, Doug Funderburk, said he was looking into introducing legislation to tighten restrictions against online harassment and fraud.

In a report filed with the Sheriff’s Department, Lori Drew said she had created the MySpace profile of “Josh Evans” to win Megan’s trust and learn how Megan felt about her daughter, who at one time had been friends with Megan.

Because Lori Drew had taken Megan on family vacations, she knew the girl had been prescribed antidepressants, Tina Meier said. She also knew that Megan had a MySpace page.

The Meier and the Drew families still live four houses from each other.

“There are no words to explain my rage,” Tina Meier said. “These people were supposed to be our friends.”

Originally published by The New York Times Media Group.

(c) 2007 International Herald Tribune. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.