The authorities have reminded parents to ensure their kids' safety on social media sites after the abduction and murder of a 13-year-old Virginia girl. Several evidences link the crime to the victim's inappropriate relationship with the suspect through a social media group.
CNN reported that Nicole Lovell, a middle-school student, disappeared from her Blacksburg home on Jan. 27 and was found dead near a Carolina road on Jan. 30. Preliminary autopsy findings revealed that the victim was likely stabbed to death on the same day she went missing.
David Eisenhauer, a Virginia Tech student, was arrested as a prime suspect of Nicole's murder. Natalie Keeper, another Virginia Tech student, is also facing charges for being an accessory to murder.
Although the investigation is not yet over, Nicole's family members believe that social media may have played a role.
David Lovell, Nicole's father, told CBS News that he believes Nicole met her accused killer through the Facebook Group 'Teen Dating and Flirting.'
"We knew there were some issues at one time with her on these sites and we addressed them and I guess we didn't do enough," Mr. Lovell disclosed.
The New York Times also reported that Stacey Snider, Nicole's neighbor, relayed to the law enforcement authorities that her daughter, Jaydon Snider, saw Nicole's exchange of text messages with an 18-year-old guy she met on a Facebook group. The guy was believed to be Eisenhauer.
Jaydon revealed that Nicole agreed to meet the guy on the night of her disappearance.
Nicole's case renews concerns about kids' safety on social media sites.
Speaking to CNN, David Ryan Polgar, co-founder of the Digital Citizenship Summit, said that although most parents taught their children not to talk to strangers in the offline world, many of them did not had a conversation about how to behave in the online world.
Polgar added that many physical relationships and friendships are first started online before they move offline.
"It is important to 'trust but verify,' and have a healthy level of caution both in one's interactions online and in the physical realm," he advised.
