Set off Warning: This text comprises content material that readers might discover distressing.
Cimarron Thomas was 12 years outdated when she took her personal life. Like most common 12-year-old women, she cherished exploring, Katy Perry and watching Netflix. She additionally had Snapchat.
Cimarron’s surprising demise despatched a wave of shock, unhappiness and a spiral of household tragedy into the Thomas family. Over three years later, the reality was lastly revealed and an evidence was given as to what precipitated Cimarron to take her personal life.
Daughter’s suicide results in household’s double tragedy
Cimarron and her household, together with Cimarron’s little sister, her mom, Stephanie, and her father, Ben, an ex-army veteran, lived in West Virginia. In 2018, seemingly out of nowhere, Cimarron discovered her father’s handgun and took her personal life with it.
Her household had been left utterly shocked and damaged, questioning what may have provoked their candy woman to do that terrible.
They wouldn’t discover out the reality for 3 extra years.
20 months after Cimarron’s demise, Ben additionally took his personal life. The guilt he felt from having the handgun that Cimarron accessed grew to become an excessive amount of.
A household pal shared with the Solar:
“When Cimarron died it was a complete thriller why she would kill herself and Ben simply couldn’t address it. He’d been a soldier in Afghanistan after the 9/11 terror assault in 2001 and her demise actually hit him arduous.”
Stephanie and Cimarron’s little sister confronted this double tragedy collectively, counting on household assist to get via the double loss. One 12 months after her husband’s demise and 32 months after dropping her daughter, Stephanie obtained a cellphone name that may piece collectively what precisely occurred.
Snapchat catfish connection
Cimarron had Snapchat. On Snapchat, she unknowingly grew to become mates with one of many UK’s most notable and harmful catfishers – Alexander McCartney. The 26-year-old from Northern Eire would pose as a teen woman to befriend kids, then use photographs they despatched to blackmail them. That is precisely what he did to Cimarron.
Police defined how Alexander blackmailed the teen into sending a topless image on Snapchat – then demanded she lure her youthful sister right into a intercourse act or he would ship the picture to her dad.
As a household pal shared:
“Cimarron was such a candy woman. She would have been actually embarrassed by the threats to ship a topless image to her dad. The household lives in a extremely tiny place the place everybody is aware of everybody and it’s fairly an harmless life and rural upbringing so possibly Cimarron wasn’t as conscious of the risks of individuals like this man.”
Police deduced that Cimarron felt trapped and ashamed, which led her to the choice to kill herself. She even instructed Alexander that she would kill herself if he despatched the photographs to her dad.
Alexander responded by launching a countdown.
70 victims resulting from catfishing
Cimarron wasn’t Alexander’s solely sufferer. He was jailed for manslaughter and offences referring to blackmailing over 70 victims within the UK, Europe, America and New Zealand. He was caught when he was making an attempt to catfish a younger woman from Scotland, which is when his pc was seized and police found the connection to Cimarron.
He was given a life sentence with a minimal of 20 years by Justice O’Hara.
Mom ‘shuts down’ after double loss
Confronted with the explanation why Cimarron took her life, Stephanie lastly has solutions, however the horrific reality has left her damaged.
“Stephanie and Cimarron’s little sister have been supported by the broader household as a lot as attainable however her mum is a quiet one that has virtually shut down after dropping her and Ben. She finds it very, very arduous to speak about.”
Stephanie would favor to see Alexander extradited to America the place his punishment would almost definitely be a lot harsher.
“The household are livid that McCartney wasn’t charged with homicide as a result of that’s what he’s carried out – he’s killed this little woman. He may need carried out it from 1000’s of miles away however the consequence is similar.
“He ought to have confronted justice in America. It might have been higher if he’d been extradited right here the place he wouldn’t be sitting in some soft British jail.”
Snapchat is a staple amongst tweens and teenagers. As a mum of a 12-year-old woman who is consistently “updating her Snapchat streak” together with her mates, it’s extremely distressing and worrying to share tales like this. We do share these tales to not scare, however to boost consciousness that risks lurk behind the screens and that folks like Alexander McCartney are on the market.
Please pay attention to your youngsters’s social media use, speak to them about who they’re speaking with, verify up typically and guarantee they’ve the utmost security settings on. Remember the fact that Snapchat has superior so much since 2018 when Cimarron died and there are a number of superior settings to make sure your baby is protected. However the easiest way to guard them is thru open, sincere and common communication.
You’ll be able to study extra about Learn how to Use Snapchat Safely at Snapchat.
What to learn subsequent
