Overview
- Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office says its digital forensic lab found Bryce Tate was targeted at 4:37 p.m. on Nov. 6 and he was discovered dead at 7:10 p.m.
- Investigators documented about 120 messages sent to the teen in the final 20 minutes of his life.
- Bryce’s father says scammers posed as a local 17-year-old girl, referenced his gym, friends and school, sent illicit images and then demanded $500.
- The family reports the perpetrators told Bryce his life was over and urged him to kill himself when he could not pay.
- KCSO referred the case to the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, the investigation is ongoing, and the family is pushing ‘Bryce’s Law’ as NCMEC reports 33,000-plus child sextortion cases in 2024.