www.expressindia.com - Weather | Horoscope | Stocks | RSS
expressindia web city
HomeBlogsCricketAstrologyShopping TendersClassifieds Opinions Jobs Hotels
Sign In / Register | Archive
Expressindia » Story

US teen commits suicide in front of webcam

Font Size

Associated Press

Posted: Nov 22, 2008 at 0917 hrs IST

Miami (US), November 22: A Florida teenager killed himself by overdosing on drugs in front of a live online audience as some computer users egged him on, some debated his method, and others tried to talk him out of it.

Abraham Biggs, 19, died Wednesday at his home from a toxic combination of opiates and benzodiazepine, a drug used to treat insomnia and depression, said Wendy Crane, an investigator with the Broward County medical examiner's office. Authorities say Biggs is not the first person to commit suicide with a webcam rolling.

It's unclear how many people were watching through the Web site ‘bodybuilding.com’. Someone finally notified a site moderator, who pinpointed Biggs' location and called police, but they arrived too late to save him, Crane said.

Biggs, who used the screen name "CandyJunkie" on the bodybuilding Web site, started blogging about plans to kill himself 12 hours before he was found lying dead on his bed. He posted a link from bodybuilding.com to Justin.tv, a site that allows users to broadcast live videos from their webcams.

Some users who read the blog told investigators they did not take him seriously because he had threatened suicide on the site before. But Biggs' family was infuriated that neither viewers nor the site acted sooner to save him.

"When (police) came in, the webfeed stopped. So that's 12 hours of watching," said his sister, Rosalind Biggs, who said her brother struggled with bipolar disorder. "They got hits, they got viewers, nothing happened for hours." Rosalind Biggs described her brother as a friendly, social, outgoing person who struck up conversations at Starbucks baristas and enjoyed taking his young nieces to Chuck E. Cheese.

Discuss this story on expressindia forums
Post Comments
Name* Email ID*
Subject* Country*
Message*
Characters remaining
 
TERMS OF USE: The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s).
I agree to the terms of use.

Latest News

Business

Showbiz

Sports

Two bombs hurled from Pakistani side; youth injured

Autopsy report: Ranbir shot from close range, tortured

New immigration law in the offing

Shiney has not confessed to consensual sex says lawyer

Kandhamal riots accused out on bail, takes oath as MLA

Sibal hints at dropping some proposals if there is a rationale

Army celebrates 10th year of recapture of Tiger Hill

More
© 2009 The Indian Express Limited. All rights reserved
The Indian Express Group | Advertise With Us | Privacy Policy | Feedback | Work With Us | Site Map