Parents of Boone County students who died by suicide highlight warning signs
In the last two months, five teenagers from Boone County have died by suicide. A few more tried to take their own lives.
Now, three of those mothers want more done, not just in schools but also online, so that no other family has to suffer the same pain.
The only thing worse than losing a child is not knowing why it happened. Just ask these three moms.
Jaimee Seitz had no idea her daughter was hiding a dark, scary and lonely secret.
"At her service, I just kept telling everybody this was an accident," Seitz said. "She didn't want to die, and that's when my world turned upside down."
Audree died by suicide eight days after her 13th birthday.
A week later, Jaimee got a call from a Boone County detective. They found something very concerning hidden in Audree's school locker.
"I have a whole journal of a countdown that she had been counting down to kill herself," Seitz said.
Audree was part of a group on TikTok in which kids talked about killing themselves and hurting others.
"She hid it though; she hid this journal," Seitz said.
Rebecca Malin and Amber Murphy also lost their kids to suicide. Like Jaimee, they have no idea why.
Braden, a senior at Cooper, and 15-year-old Cameron were not part of any online groups, but they were both big-time "gamers." Rebecca says it seemed normal.
These moms can't help but wonder if the things their kids saw online and on their phones fed into their depression.
"Our children and what they're exposed to, it's being romanticized on the internet," Amber said. "The Blackout Challenge. Right now, there's also the Benadryl Challenge that is viral on social media, and these young kids are losing their lives."
When Jaimee stood before the Boone County school board pleading for the district to do something, the county took action.
A task force is trying to develop better programs for emotional and mental health support for students. But these moms believe the issue is much bigger, and they need lawmakers to step up. Amber says it's simple, and it's already happening.
"If you see a gambling commercial, there's a warning sign on there. If we go to buy alcohol or tobacco, there's a warning sign on there," Murphy said.
Until then, these moms will keep talking about their kids and pleading with others, hoping to save other kids and other families from the same unbearable pain.
"The younger generation, if somebody comes to you and they're in a dark place, be courageous, be bold and tell someone because anyone's life can change in the blink of an eye like ours did," Murphy said.
While these moms hope to get lawmakers to crackdown on what our kids see on their phones and online, at the very least they want every school district to have better emotional and mental health support for our kids with programs like The Hope Squad.
If you or someone you know needs help, you can talk with the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or sending a text message to 988, or you can .