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Ex US Marine and 12 year old Girl meeting via the internet - heard about it?

Discussion in 'Off Topic [BG]' started by Bruce Lindfield, Jul 16, 2003.

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  1. Jul 16, 2003 #1
    Bruce Lindfield

    Bruce Lindfield Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor Gold Supporting Member In Memoriam

    Dec 13, 1999
    Brighton, England, UK, Europe
    So - the big news story over here - top of the News schedules for several days has been about the disappearance of a 12-year old British girl.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/3070191.stm

    Apparently she met a 31 year old ex US Marine on the internet - presumably at a site much like this one - but more general! ;)

    So - she told friends about her American boyfriend - and flew to meet him - maybe in Europe - details are sketchy now.

    But anyway - he has contacted his family and told them that the girl lied on the 'net and said she was 19 and at college/university - sound familiar, with some of the kids on here, lying about their age? :meh:

    So it has been very big here - parent's worst nightmare - internet is evil etc.

    I was wondering if it was a big story in the US - as nobody has mentioned it and it is very relevant to get-togethers and things mentioned here on TB?

    So - what if somebody arranged a get-together and found that a person coming, had lied and was a 12-year-old girl and her "disappearance" provoked a national police search??!! :eek:
    :meh:
     
  2. Jul 16, 2003 #2
    FretNoMore

    FretNoMore * Cooking with GAS *

    Jan 25, 2002
    The frozen north
    The whole thing just feels a bit sad really, let's hope nothing bad happened and that both parties and their families can put this behind them without too much papparazzi bs. The speculating machines (CNN et al) went haywire as usual though, hope that goes away as quickly as it started, and that something useful can come out of it instead.
     
  3. Jul 16, 2003 #3
    Bruce Lindfield

    Bruce Lindfield Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor Gold Supporting Member In Memoriam

    Dec 13, 1999
    Brighton, England, UK, Europe
    I was just surprised that nobody in the US, had mentioned it - but I think the only thing to come out of this will be parents stopping any under-age girls from using the internet and campaigning for minors to be blocked from chat sites - like our own TB!! :eek:

    So - I think many of us would be happy to see 'kids' thrown out ;) - but seriously is there any alternative, when some have admitted that they lie about their age - so we have 14/15 year olds or younger, saying they are 30 or something like that?

    So if any female come on here - there is huge interest and attempts to flirt and presumably eventually to meet up - so what if that female is 12 years old or less...:meh: would TB get shut down?
     
  4. Jul 16, 2003 #4
    DEFELDUS

    DEFELDUS

    Jun 1, 2003
    Orlando, FL
    man ive heard nothing about that and i watch the news all the time
     
  5. Jul 16, 2003 #5
    Bruce Lindfield

    Bruce Lindfield Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor Gold Supporting Member In Memoriam

    Dec 13, 1999
    Brighton, England, UK, Europe
    Hmmmm..I was wondering if this was being hushed up or kept quiet in the US - as it doesn't look too good if 31 year old ex Marines are dating 12 year old girls, using the internet!
     
  6. Jul 16, 2003 #6
    john turner

    john turner You don't want to do that. Trust me. Staff Member

    Mar 14, 2000
    atlanta ga
  7. Jul 16, 2003 #7
    DEFELDUS

    DEFELDUS

    Jun 1, 2003
    Orlando, FL
    probably
     
  8. Jul 16, 2003 #8
    Paul A

    Paul A

    Dec 13, 1999
    Hertfordshire U.K!
    Did you see his family though?...... sort of reminded me of the film "Deliverance" :D
     
  9. Jul 16, 2003 #9
    Brendan

    Brendan

    Jun 18, 2000
    Portland, OR
    Well, he didn't know she was 12.

    Although, criminy, I wanna know how a 12 year old pulled of being 19. Either he's not too bright, she's bright, or it's a sad state of educational affairs. Possible any combination of the three.

    But...12!? I was still playing with guns and running around in the woods when I was 12, and I had the internet.

    Who ARE these people?
     
  10. Jul 16, 2003 #10
    Bruce Lindfield

    Bruce Lindfield Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor Gold Supporting Member In Memoriam

    Dec 13, 1999
    Brighton, England, UK, Europe
    Well, I meant - is it headline News on every paper and every TV News show? Is everybody discussing it in the context of how the internet is evil - look what happens! :meh:

    I just wondered why it hadn't been mentioned around here - when it was especially relavent to threads like - do you guess the age of people on TB?
     
  11. Jul 16, 2003 #11
    bassmonkeee

    bassmonkeee

    Sep 13, 2000
    Decatur, GA
    The story has gotten as much press in the US as it deserves. I mean, a girl lied to an ex-US Marine (whose wife died last year) and when he found out she was 12, he sent her back to England.

    How much press do you think it deserves? As much face time on the papers as North Korea having the materials to make nuclear weapons?

    Not to make too light of it, but it's tabloid TV fodder.

    The story was the top story on www.cnn.com both the day she went missing, and the day she turned up. How much more is needed?

    I don't think it amounts to any "cover up," though. It's just irrelevant to anyone except the parties involved.
     
  12. Jul 16, 2003 #12
    john turner

    john turner You don't want to do that. Trust me. Staff Member

    Mar 14, 2000
    atlanta ga
    i don't think anyone cares - i mean, if _she_ didn't lie about her age, we wouldn't even know about it.


    it's a sad fact, reinforced here every day. kids in their early to mid teens think they know it all, better than their parents or those older and more experienced than themselves. the walls of the local stores are coverd with their pictures, along with dates that they were last seen alive.
     
  13. Jul 16, 2003 #13
    Bruce Lindfield

    Bruce Lindfield Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor Gold Supporting Member In Memoriam

    Dec 13, 1999
    Brighton, England, UK, Europe
    They certainly do over here - it is everywhere and is continually updated on all BBC programmes - and everybody is tallking about nothing else!

    So they are breaking into Radio/TV programmes as I speak, to say that that the guy - Toby Studebaker(sp?) has been arrested in Germany!

    I think people are genuinely surprised that something like this could happen and have never made the link that you do, about missing children - it is a genuine revelation to them!

    I feel there is a big difference in attitudes between the US and UK - in that we are looking for ways to see the internet as evil and the cause of a lot of social problems - whereas I get the feeling fom people here that nobody cares in the US?
     
  14. Jul 16, 2003 #14
    Bruce Lindfield

    Bruce Lindfield Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor Gold Supporting Member In Memoriam

    Dec 13, 1999
    Brighton, England, UK, Europe
    No - you're wrong there - she is till missing as we speak and wasn't "sent back"! He has just been arrested in Germany!

    I think all parents of mssing children are taking a huge interest here, as they never saw this possibility before! Naive maybe - but, they see new hope....
     
  15. Jul 16, 2003 #15
    Brendan

    Brendan

    Jun 18, 2000
    Portland, OR
    Well, we got the Internet as a vital tool, accepted and loved by nearly all.

    You guys got the lack of zealous taboos on sex and the human body.

    Give/Take.
     
  16. Jul 16, 2003 #16
    bassmonkeee

    bassmonkeee

    Sep 13, 2000
    Decatur, GA

    You're right. I was just coming back here to delete my original post. I could have sworn I read on Monday that she called her parents from Liverpool, and he was still in France. Maybe I dreamed it?:confused:

    I won't bother to delete since you quoted me. Stupid TransAtlantic time difference... :D
     
  17. Jul 16, 2003 #17
    Bruce Lindfield

    Bruce Lindfield Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor Gold Supporting Member In Memoriam

    Dec 13, 1999
    Brighton, England, UK, Europe
    As I say - I think it is getting "overkill" here - but I can see a genuine concern in people who are responsible for children - I just wondered if it was the same in the US?
     
  18. Jul 16, 2003 #18
    wulf

    wulf

    Apr 11, 2002
    Oxford, UK
    Call the police at the first opportunity and ask for their advice on how to handle the situation (eg. how forcibly to prevent the child from 'escaping').

    Also, I'd imagine that a group get-together which had been organised via a public forum would be less open to dangerous allegations than a one-to-one affair fine-tuned in a chatroom.

    Wulf
     
  19. Jul 16, 2003 #19
    Bruce Lindfield

    Bruce Lindfield Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor Gold Supporting Member In Memoriam

    Dec 13, 1999
    Brighton, England, UK, Europe
    I've noticed these things "initiated" in open forums, then people saying : PM me or send an email.....:meh:
     
  20. Jul 16, 2003 #20
    john turner

    john turner You don't want to do that. Trust me. Staff Member

    Mar 14, 2000
    atlanta ga
    not to mention the whole dental hygiene thing. :D ;)
     
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