Web of deceit

orchestrated a cruel prank on MySpace.com, driving Megan to hang herself in her bedroom closet. If the Internet had killed Megan Meier, now it would avenge her.

On MySpace.com, one Josh Evans told Megan Meier he thought she was cute. Megan excitedly messaged back. Thirteen had been miserable, but that fall Megan decided to flee the outcast misery of a fat girl trying to fit in. Now, she had joined the volleyball team and lost 20 pounds.

Then in the course of two hours on a rainy Monday afternoon, Megan suddenly became a target once more, hounded and publicly humiliated by a teenage mob on the Web. Her parents found her body at dinnertime.

Ron Meier turned on the computer hours after his daughter died and saw the last message she had received from her MySpace crush: 8220;This world would be a better place without you.8221;

Weeks after Megan8217;s suicide, the Meiers discovered that 8220;Josh8221; didn8217;t exist. Lori Drew, her 13-year-old daughter and an 18-year-old family friend told investigators that 8220;Josh8221; had been created to win Megan8217;s trust and find out if she was spreading rumours about the Drew girl.

Authorities urged the neighbours to keep quiet while the FBI investigated. Months passed. Ultimately, the US attorney8217;s office decided no charges could be filed against the Drews or the family friend, Ashley Grills.

8220;If Megan had taken her life with bullets and guns I had in the house, I8217;d be in jail,8221; says her bitter father. 8220;But they did it with a computer and are walking free.8221;

But the sophisticated powers of the information age and the frontier atmosphere of the World Wide Web were about to sideswipe each other again, set in motion by a housewife in Richmond.

Sarah Wells, a 45-year-old blogger was dubious when a link to the newspaper story about Megan popped up on her screen. She chased the story and the trail quickly led to Curt and Lori Drew.

Wells posted the Drews8217; names and address on her blog. Overnight, Wells8217; blog ricocheted through cyberspace, and by morning, an online lynch mob had formed. Already neighbourhood pariahs, the Drews reportedly began getting death threats, and ugly e-mails and letters from the global village.

Cyber-sleuths posted photos of Lori and Curt Drew. Satellite images of the house were also posted, along with the Drews8217; address and phone numbers, and where they worked. Boycotts of businesses using Lori Drew8217;s coupon-mailing service were organised.

Even as new Web sites popped up to defend Megan, a more startling one materialised last month, its very name proving just how ugly things had become: Meganhaditcoming.com. The anonymous blogger claimed to be a former classmate of Megan8217;s. She described Megan in vicious terms as an aggressive, vulgar and unpopular girl who victimized the Drew girl. More than 5,000 comments were posted within three days. The final entry before the site was dismantled proclaimed, 8220;I am Lori Drew.8221;

Today, the Drews8217; phones ring unanswered, and video cameras atop their house pan the property for trespassers. Neighbours say they often see strangers drive slowly past the house and shout: 8220;Murderer! Burn in hell, Lori!8221; Drew went into hiding with her daughter. The Drews8217; advertising business closed; Curt Drew8217;s affiliation with a local realty firm was severed. Ashley Grills is under psychiatric care.

The Meiers have since filed for divorce. Ron lives in the house, where two fairy-light angels glow each night from Megan8217;s bedroom window.
Tamara Jones LAT-WP