Bucks County X News
SEVERAL NATIONAL TEEN SUICIDES CONNECTED TO ONLINE FORUM USER ‘XHOSPICEANGELX’
Kailee McGuire -
The tragic suicide of a teenager in my own community and the disturbing details that came out in the weeks and months afterward led me to do a deep dive into other suicides across the country which uncovered a pattern and connections I can only describe as sinister. Especially since the anonymity and scope of the internet may be masking broader implications.
On April 18th last year, Cassie Newman, a former honor roll, volleyball and JV track star killed herself in the garage of her home in her 2003 Mustang. She had sat in the car, struggling to take her final breaths around 3:13am with her family only fifty or sixty feet away. The death shocked everyone, including those closest to her. Cassie had spent the last two months at home after school recovering from an ankle injury and although friends described her as “a little quiet”, there were no indicators she was depressed or suffering.
The ensuing struggle to find answers and meaning led her friends and family to discover that Cassie had been leading a double life the entire school year. She had begun delving into existential questions that many teens may ponder, but she spent an inordinate amount of time searching for answers on her own.
CASSIE NEWMAN (16)
Cassie Newman’s passing had a personal toll on this author as I had the privilege (although I wouldn’t have called it that at the time) of babysitting her one summer when I was home for college. She was 10 at the time and every bit as ambitious, fun to be around, and athletic as she later became as a teenager. I often made the mistake of accepting her challenges to various athletic or sports challenges and she never let me forget when she won… which was most of the time. In fairness to me I was an English Lit Major. For more of my personal stories about Cassie please click here.
A website search in September began it all with the question “What is the purpose of life?” Another “What is the point of everything?” Whether it was hormones, exhaustion from the sports she was involved in, relationships or something else unknown to her loved ones… something made Cassie question her own existence. And rather than click on the links that would’ve provided religious or positive philosophical solutions Cassie dug further until she found ‘Assisted Rest’.
It was there that she fell into the scope of ‘XHospiceAngelX’, a malicious entity I would say has the potential to be one of the more prolific and dastardly serial killers of the last ten or twenty years. Many stories, similar to Cassie’s have led to the same end:
– ‘XHospiceAngelX’ and the Assisted Rest forum where this person regularly lurks for new victims. Fresh young blood they lust after, spilling by the hand of their own victims. I use this colorful and somewhat imaginative language to call attention to a very real danger. What I presume is an adult human being going on this website and holding the hands and whispering in the ears of teenagers as they walk toward a metaphorical cliff. In an age where “depraved indifference” is a law in some states that holds people accountable for failing to stop others from coming to serious harm when it’s well within your power to do so… it’s very difficult to see how what this Hospice Angel does isn’t illegal… and why the FBI isn’t actively hunting this person down.
Below is an except from one of the many chat conversations between Cassie and 'XHospiceAngelX', shared by Cassie's family.
XHOSPICEANGELX: That’s totally up to
you, Cassie. We will support you in
whatever you decide to do.
CASSIENEWGIRL5: Thank u.
XHOSPICEANGELX: I just hope you
recognize the difference between those
who give you the choice and those who
would take it away from you.
CASSIENEWGIRL5: I do. It’s why I’m
greatful to everyone there. Especially u.
XHOSPICEANGELX: You ok?
CASSIENEWGIRL5:Yeah, I just wanted to
say that ur the only person I feel like I
can really talk to. Like, I can be myself
with u. I don’t have to hide anything.
XHOSPICEANGELX: I’m really happy to
hear that. But I’m also sad no one else
has been there for you until now.
CASSIENEWGIRL5: Yeah.
CASSIENEWGIRL5: Me too.
XHOSPICEANGELX: What are you
thinking?
CASSIENEWGIRL5: That if u lived closer
or u were here sooner I probably
wouldn’t have gone on Assisted.
XHOSPICEANGELX: However we found
each other, I’m here now.