Dead Clemson girl may have been murdered by someone that she met thru Facebook

Parent Cafe
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<p>FountainSiren, I found the original post’s reference to the possibility of a facebook connection to this tragic story provocative since there was no reference to a source for the information. The added comment about other discussions on CB about the dangers of the internet and facebook was referenced, and this latest connection appeared to be a warning, once again. It’s a comment which appeared to be made to provoke controversy about college students’ use of facebook. If there is, in fact, a connection, that’s one thing but any articles I’ve read in the past week about the case simply state that her computer had been examined during the course of the investigation. There was no mention of facebook. So, I was curious as to where this report originated, because, as I said, I don’t think it’s responsible to ‘stir the pot’ with this possibility if it isn’t established by someone involved in the investigation.</p>

<p>I can’t comment on CGM’s posts.</p>

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<p>Like I said, I didn’t post a “link” because I heard it on the news. I certainly didn’t make this up. The killer may turn out to be someone not related to her Facebook, but yesterday, when I posted the OP, it was reported on TV that they suspected that the killer was someone she met thru her facebook.</p>

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<p>Alwaysamom,</p>

<p>Thanks for the clarification. I was sincerely curious.</p>

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<p>FS- excuse me, where did that come from?</p>

<p>I posted some very important statistics and a reality, and you make such assumptions…wow indeed</p>

<p>It is interesting that you seem to want to attack people all the time…this was a very civilized conversation, very rational, very concerned, no one blaming facebook, just saying that sometimes women can have errors in judgement, and throw caution to the wind </p>

<p>Meeting a strange person is like crossing the street without looking both ways…</p>

<p>Please, do not make assumptions on a personal level about people when they show concern for other people…volunteering in a homeless shelter, and a women’s and family shelter, i see women and children that have been hurt…who stayed with men far too long out of loyalty, fear, whatever, or too afraid to be alone</p>

<p>Please, no more aside regarding me thank you very much…I am sure every relationship in your world…in your seven degrees of seperation have been ideal…</p>

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<p>well…I’d say, I get by–give it my best…it is what it is.:)</p>

<p>I tend to see the good in people (even “men”)…it’s my weakness, I know.</p>

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<p>I see the good in people, but I also see the reality of the bad, in women as well, imagine that, people do bad things to each other</p>

<p>Most people are good people…like most people are good drivers, that doesn’t mean you don’t drive watching everything, paying attention, being aware, checking your tires, if you see some one weaving, you avoid them, if someone is driving drunk, you don’t get in the car, if some one has lots of dents on their car, I tend to be extra careful around that driver, and being careful does not mean all drivers are bad horrible people, it does mean being aware, and taking care of yourself, so you and others don’t get hurt</p>

<p>If I carry my purse around, I don’t leave my wallet in the shopping cart and walk away, while most people are good, how foolish would I be to not watch it</p>

<p>Did your parents not teach you to swim, just in case you fell in the water</p>

<p>Or tell you not to let strangers in the house</p>

<p>Or not wander around at 3am in a dodgy neighborhood alone</p>

<p>i know people are good, most all of them, but that doesn’t mean you have to be foolish</p>

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<p>I agree with everything you said…about cars. That’s a start!</p>

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<p>Sigh…Are you trying to be sincere? If so, I am glad, if not…well, nevermind</p>

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<p>Breaking News from Nancy Grace: convicted sex offender from Tennesee’s DNA matched and they are now looking for a middle-aged guy named Jerry Inman.</p>

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<p>In our newspaper this a.m., Jerry Inman was arrested in TN. yesterday and charged with rape,kidnapping and murder. He is in the county jail there. He had also been arrested in past years for sexual offenses in Fl. and NC.</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>So you like wandering into dodgy neighborhoods after dark?</p>

<p>Damn, even I’m not that self-assured.</p>

<p>–
Anyway, as far as Facebook and MySpace go, is it any worse than meeting a stranger at a bus stop and striking up a conversation? I do it all the time, both here in Japan and back in the US. Sure, I could live my life terrified of the off-chance that the person will pull a .45 on me and shoot me, but then I’d just be making myself needlessly paranoid and afraid.</p>

<p>Parents should monitor their children. That’s a given. But parents ought to realize that their precious babies are literally surrounded by a swarm of strangers every day of their life. If they go walk to the store, the odds of them coming into contact with a stranger are incredibly high. And, sadly enough, the chance that one of them will go bonkers and kill your child is also present, albeit extremely low. </p>

<p>Now, the Internet is no different. Facebook is a sort of white pages, but with a little more personality. Now, in case most of you weren’t aware of the fact, unless you specifically make a point of not listing yourself in the white pages, almost anyone can find your address through a reverse phone number search…</p>

<p>…but who cares to? I sure as hell couldn’t care less where you live. But I know of a number of people who go out of their way to become as anonymous and hidden as possible. Hermitude and isolation, for these folks, is a better solution to just being affable and social; I find the solitude of paranoia to be insufferable, myself.</p>

<p>So, let’s say that Facebook played a role. So what? Should we stop the efficient dissemination of information for an isolated incident? If so, then we should also stop printing phone listings, as they can be used to track down people as well. We should also stop e-mails, IMing, online chat rooms, etc. </p>

<p>I suspect that many parents fear these new communication technologies for one simple reason: They’re out of the loop, so they feel helpless and unable to really “stop” the bad things. Unfortunately, like any other connecting technology (Internet, telephone, cars, etc.) there’s always the chance that it may bring a bad individual one step closer to your child. But, in a world of 6 billion people, that’s a chance we have to take.</p>

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<p>Actually, Jery Inman confessed to the crime yesterday. Apparently he has struck before, and has also spent 15 years in a Florida jail for other sex offences. He says that he was cruising the streets, looking for a victim, drove past this poor girl, and liked what he saw…Doesn’t look like Facebook was involved.</p>

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<p>Well, I’ll give you a concrete example: Taylor Behl from Virginia Commonwealth University ([articles</a> about her here](<a href=“http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/HTMLPage/RTD_HTMLPage&c=HTMLPage&cid=1031785226582]articles”>http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/HTMLPage/RTD_HTMLPage&c=HTMLPage&cid=1031785226582)). It was reported that she met her killer on MySpace.</p>

<p>As some of you know, I’m a big fan of MySpace/blogging/etc. I’ve reconneted with a handful of classmates from college and high school through MySpace. I first met a colleague in another department here at UVA on MySpace when they were visiting Charlottesville for their interview and pinged me to ask about quality of life here. They aren’t horrible sites, completely full of predators. </p>

<p>I do think, though, that this crop of students is a little too free with their personal information and a little too trusting when someone contacts them, claiming to be their age and really into the same music as they are or to be moving into their town and looking to make friends. They need constant reminders of what online behavior is prudent from adults.</p>

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<p>Dean J,</p>

<p>Your information is to be had, if someone wants it. All MySpace and Facebook do is collect it in a centralized database. But for the ever-so-diligent whacko, all it takes is a couple keystrokes, an IP address, and some simple sleuthing to track down any potential victim.</p>

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<p>But a person needs to make contact in person -set up a date, meet at a party, etc…how many of these cases are someone breaking into a home…and how many are people going off to meet with someone they just know from online… </p>

<p>It is horrible Behl was killed, but did she make the mistake of going out alone to meet someone</p>

<p>From the stories I have read, the victim is lured, asked, or willingly goes to meet a person they have no clue about…if some stranger called you on the phone, and said, meet me here, would you go? But people will do that thinking they know someone well from conversations on the internet</p>

<p>Tracking a potential victim is scary, of course, but its the carelessness of that victim in going off to meet someone</p>

<p>I know I sound harsh, but people need to be smart, and in a way, not so gullible, naive, and in a way ignoring their own instincts</p>

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<p>UCLAri,

This is the kind of behavior I was addressing. These kids are getting lured by “friends” they make online.</p>

<p>If one follows Dateline, that’s how the vast majority of predators are operating. They aren’t hacking into the databases.</p>

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<p>Hacking is more about identiy theft, I would think</p>

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<p>What was this girl Thinking? </p>

<p>FBI: Mich. Girl Held in Jordan on Way Home
Friday, June 9, 2006</p>

<p>Printable Version
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(06-09) 08:08 PDT DETROIT, (AP) –</p>

<p>A 16-year-old girl who flew to the Middle East to see a man she met on MySpace.com was detained in Jordan and was headed home Friday, an FBI spokesman said.</p>

<p>U.S. officials persuaded Katherine Lester to take the return flight from Amman, FBI Special Agent Robert Beeckman said from the agency’s Detroit office.</p>

<p>Katherine had disappeared from her home in Gilford, in eastern Michigan, on Monday and apparently planned to visit a man whose MySpace account describes him as a 25-year-old from Jericho, said Tuscola County Undersheriff James Jashinske.</p>

<p>The sheriff’s department contacted the FBI, which traced the teen to a flight from New York to Amman, Jashinske said. On Thursday night, her family received word from U.S. officials that she had been stopped as she arrived in Amman en route to Tel Aviv, Israel.</p>

<p>Katherine’s mother, Shawn Lester, said her daughter had persuaded her in April to help her get a passport so she could go on a two-week vacation to Canada with a friend’s family.</p>

<p>On Sunday, they drove to a bus station for that trip, but the family didn’t show up. Shawn Lester said she called them, learned there was no trip and brought her daughter home. The next day, Katherine was gone.</p>

<p>Jashinske said it remained unclear whether any law had been violated. An online conversation with a 16-year-old is not illegal in Michigan, but solicitation for sex would be. He said deputies confiscated the family’s home computer and were taking it to the FBI’s Bay City office Friday for analysis.</p>

<p>FBI spokesman Brian Endrizal declined to provide any details and would not comment on the man’s identity or background.</p>

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<p>The above girl really had to plan out that trip, and sure myspace was involved, but she knew what she was doing…I am just glad she didn’t get to Jordan</p>

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<p>Dean J,</p>

<p>In effect, what you’re suggesting is no different from meeting with a penpal or blind date. The only difference is that FaceBook and other networking technologies make it easier to engage in this sort of activity. But to say that it’s their fault that people are nuts and other people are stupidly foolhardy is absurd. It’s an attempt to merely remove the blame from those guilty of poor judgement.</p>