Found Deceased OR - Owen Klinger, 18, University of Portland, 6 Oct 2019

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LAborn said:
Has anyone ever committed suicide outside of "grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture?" This is just reminding me of the many reasons I left the Catholic church.
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As a former Catholic, I hear you. But for those who remain and are devout, there may be the internal conflict between the former, less compassionate attitude and the newer way of thinking. And many people of all or no faiths believe that suicide is unforgivably selfish. So Owen’s parents may not be able (emotionally and spiritually) to reach out to help others even by funding a scholarship. They may just want it to go away.

Even for those without firm beliefs, the idea of suicide is fraught, as the article posted above discusses. A very worthwhile read.

Personally, I have the strong belief that my life or the life of others is not mine to take (although my husband and I have advance directives instructing that we are not to be artificially kept alive in certain circumstances). But as the portion of the article I quoted mentioned, I am able to have empathy leading to compassion and sympathy for one who chooses to end their life even if it’s not a choice I would want to make. I don’t feel morally conflicted holding these two thoughts simultaneously, but I can understand that some would.

Extremely Dark Places: The role of empathy in healing from suicide - Five Bodies Counseling
 
10ofRods said:
So...can someone list some “copycat” suicides? I am not counting suicides that take place after a celebrity dies unless the same method is used. (So, no one who killed themselves due to Michael Jackson’s unintentional non-suicide used the method that killed him; I know there was a suicide attributed to Amy Winehouse’s non-suicide death by misadventure. I know that initially the death of Brittany Murphy’s husband was thought to be a grief reaction (and possible copycat) suicide, but it was ruled due to natural causes.

So. Given that you all have been following true crime for a long time (most of you), where are the certain copycat suicides (or even, putative ones)? Because I’d truly like to look at the dynamics of those.
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I’m not sure there are specific known copycats...i.e. the person leaves a note saying that they are committing suicide because someone else did. And I’m not aware of any during my following threads on WS. But statistically, there have been increases noted after the suicide of some well known people, such as Robin Williams, mentioned in this article.
Robin Williams' suicide was followed by a sharp rise in 'copycat' deaths

“The Cluster Effect” has been studied and seems to have some statistical validity...enough to take certain precautions as mentioned in the article linked below. It seems to be particularly prevalent among teens and young adults, indigenous communities and among soldiers in combat zones.

“While copycat suicides are not as common as feared, the existence of suicide clusters has been confirmed by studies launched by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).”

I linked this study in an earlier post.

When Suicides Come in Clusters
 
10ofRods said:
So...can someone list some “copycat” suicides? I am not counting suicides that take place after a celebrity dies unless the same method is used. (So, no one who killed themselves due to Michael Jackson’s unintentional non-suicide used the method that killed him; I know there was a suicide attributed to Amy Winehouse’s non-suicide death by misadventure. I know that initially the death of Brittany Murphy’s husband was thought to be a grief reaction (and possible copycat) suicide, but it was ruled due to natural causes.

So. Given that you all have been following true crime for a long time (most of you), where are the certain copycat suicides (or even, putative ones)? Because I’d truly like to look at the dynamics of those.
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A Welsh Teen-Suicide Epidemic
 
10ofRods said:
So...can someone list some “copycat” suicides? I am not counting suicides that take place after a celebrity dies unless the same method is used. (So, no one who killed themselves due to Michael Jackson’s unintentional non-suicide used the method that killed him; I know there was a suicide attributed to Amy Winehouse’s non-suicide death by misadventure. I know that initially the death of Brittany Murphy’s husband was thought to be a grief reaction (and possible copycat) suicide, but it was ruled due to natural causes.

So. Given that you all have been following true crime for a long time (most of you), where are the certain copycat suicides (or even, putative ones)? Because I’d truly like to look at the dynamics of those.
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Hi 10-

Here is a (very very long) article that may be of some interest to you. It’s an article about my own community and thus extremely personal to me.

The Silicon Valley Suicides

It does not address “famous” cases of suicide, but it does perhaps shed some applicable light onto teen suicides and how they can cluster. That is what happened in Palo Alto. (New York Times has also written an article, and there are several other national writeups about it: Opinion | Best, Brightest — and Saddest?)

Owen was only recently out of high school, and so I would say the situation discussed in these articles may even be more apropos than comparing him and his peers to more well-known people who have committed suicide. JMO.

But in any case, suicide is obviously highly complex. There are often no answers as to what the final straw was and what specifically factored in to it at that moment. We can only try to understand it as best we can. Breaks my heart.

Just some quick highlights from the Atlantic article:

“Staff checked in with students who were thought to be especially vulnerable. In training, they’d learned that one key to heading off copycats was not romanticizing the death, so they struggled to hit just the right tone.”

“She feels lucky, she told me, that she hadn’t heard of any high schoolers jumping in front of a train. “I’d read about overdoses, but the train just never occurred to me. I wonder if, in that state of desperation, on one of my really bad days, it would have seemed like a good idea to me.”

“And of course, one thing that puts a kid at risk is someone else’s suicide. At Gunn, the scariest thing kids told me is that now, in one student’s phrasing, “suicide is one of the options.”

(EBM to fix link by New York Times, not WSJ)


 
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Thank you so much. I think "suicide epidemic" is a better term than "copycat suicide."

That puts the phenomena into the domain of much more complex psychological and better studied mental illnesses. It's also interesting, of course, that those suicides are in a local context, and is not due to media coverage of suicides. There's no way to keep families and friends from knowing that a suicide has occurred unless the family is extremely tight-lipped and can control their family member's social networks.

IME, depressed and anxious students do tend to group together. In many cases, in high schools, there are Emo and Goth kids who make an open display of dark, suicidal thoughts and music. It's rare that someone who is into the darker forms of (for example) death metal is hanging out a lot with the Ariana Grande crowd. There is research on how groups of depressed people amp up each others' depression (which is why in properly conducted inpatient or group therapy work, no one should be putting a lot of depressives in the same group or wing).

The Welsh case is a great example. A friend knew about the suicide before the police did. That's the key part of what I'm getting at. The friend group didn't find out from the media. Or even, from police. The friend group found out from the victim and from each other. And that's the kind of dark curtain that we, as people wanting to prevent suicide, especially teen suicide, must penetrate. Grief makes already-angst ridden people more likely to suicide. The Welsh case is interesting because the teens all chose the same method - so yes, indeed, that one could be called "copy cat," but to suppress that sort of suicide, it won't work to suppress media. Further, it would be odd to say that every time a teen used that method of suicide (elsewhere in the world), that it was a "copy cat." The situation was time limited and it was all within that one social group.

From this, I think we should all learn that friends of a suicided teen are very vulnerable, especially when the group has talked and thought about suicide a lot (at the college where I teach, 52% of students report feeling suicidal in the past 6 months; 2% have made an attempt). Parents need to know about local suicides among teens so that they can be aware of the increased risk. We should include all those suicides that occur in social groups, once one member has suicided, regardless of whether the method is the same.

Above all, people should realize that seriously suicidal young people often bond over their struggle. So it should be no surprise that when one actually does commit suicide, it provides impetus to the others.

I also want to add that using a very common method of suicide (hanging or jumping off a bridge) is difficult to classify as "copy cat." Suicidal people often ponder several methods, but everyone who has worked closely with depressed people knows that the method they're thinking about is usually closely tied in to their own personal psychology.

The sociology of the Welsh suicides is also telling. Relative deprivation theory is, in my view, accurate (and helps to explain the extensive suicides of the two Canadian teens). As the number of teen and young adult suicides goes up so quickly, as it is doing now. yes, it will be obvious that "suicide is one of the options." We cannot ask media to suppress facts about the world so that teens think the global picture is rosy, especially if they live in circumstances that seem grim, to their teen minds.

It used to be that "copycat killer" was used only for those murderers who tried to commit murders while pretending and copying another killer, to achieve not being caught. I think it really makes teen and young adult suicide sound like a sociopathic crime, instead of what it is: a tragic mistake underpinned by many biologic variables, including the known effects of hanging out with others who are likewise depressed and frequent discussion (outside of adult hearing) of suicide. No reason to suppress media coverage, every reason for parents and teachers and others to find ways to reach out.
 
Maybe he was texting a counselor and the conversation is protected by HIPAA? The Medical Examiner ruled there was no foul play. It seems the family is struggling or can’t accept this finding and would benefit from grief counseling. After reading the Mom’s “More Owen” writing on social media, it feels to me like he was acting out in cries for help for years. When a child is asked to leave church groups for youth, other classes and has a teacher have to abandon lesson plans that this would have been recognized as something to get assistance with. Also, taking a bumper off a car by driving into a tree and then throwing it in the backseat where friends are sitting is telling to me. Before everyone chastises me, I just feel that this is a sad situation. As a retired teacher, it feels like a lot of opportunities for helping were never addressed due to a lack of recognizing that these behaviors were cries for help and unacceptable versus being called exuberance!
 
andrew oz said:
I've lived in north portland, 1 mile from where Owen disappeared, for 15 years. I run down willamette blvd almost every night, alone, passing where he was last seen and going 2 additional miles. I'm an average sized, cautious female and have never felt afraid for my safety. FWIW.

second, in a small defense of lacrosse plays, of whom no one on this forum can attest to knowledge of what they are or are not doing outside of the web - I attended a search on saturday. there were at least two lacrosse plays in my group (1 of 12 groups). One said he was there out of loyalty to his "lacrosse bro". he said Owen was the only player on the team (not the current U of P team) who did not bully him. while that certainly says something wonderful about Owen, depressing as a larger commentary on men and athletics.

I feel so sad and helpless with regards to Owen's disappearance. I really feel like he met with foul play of some sort. I don't find the adderall angle compelling. it doesn't make sense. U of P is a relatively non-competitive school that likely draws students who actually want to learn verses being super concerned with status or grades to the point of buying drugs to improve performance. I went to Gonzaga, which is a comparable jesuit school. also, i thought the poem was wonderful and sweet and was totally surprised when others read it differently.

I would like to know more about the incident at the school . As someone else pointed out, the only open investigation from the campus safety crime report is for 9/22 and involved "harassment" late at night (11pm) at an all women's dorm. I don't think there are any signs that Owen was unstable, but certainly the instigator of this issue might be struggling with a break up, etc.

I also don't find the idea of self-harm to be compelling. If he was going to kill himself, i think there would have been some sign. I also don't think you'd need money.

he looks dressed for a date or meeting up with someone. there's been no discussion of his romantic life, but again, he seemed like he anticipated being back soon. otherwise, why not cancel plans with his roommate? he was in a situation to maximize people being worried right away. not to get super meta, but maybe it was a slightly risky situation and while he didn't want his roommate to know where he was going, he wanted some safety net should things go side ways?

IDK. heartbreaking. i've prayed for the first time in a long time.
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This was a very touching, human post. I am looking at this case with benefit of knowing what happened and going backward. I feel a yearning to hug his mother, but of course that's impossible & would be somewhat of a strange thing for a person that didn't know her, her family or her son & who lives 3000 miles away to do. But I took comfort from your post. I don't know what it is, but your words brought comfort even when I knew that comfort couldn't be brought for Owen or his family. You've got an ability to touch others with just your words. Keep being you & thank you for being there to help try to find Owen. I really wished this had turned out so completely different. He seemed like such a great kid. Easy going, happy, great family. His mom looks exactly like him. I can't imagine her pain.
 
PajamaSleuth said:
I tell my kids that the “extra credit is mandatory”. Our schools integrate a wide range of abilities in one class. There are students that test well below grade level to kids that test well above grade level.

The teachers have said the mandatory assignments are tailored to the average students. Kids who struggle academically would be too frustrated withthe extra credit so they aren’t expected to do it.

My kids happen to be above grade level so I expect them to do the extra credit. It keeps them engaged and challenged.

It’s really not high pressure, it’s what the teachers recommended.
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I know I'm a month late to this forum, but Owen drew me in. Such a happy, healthy looking kid, with a mom that looks just like him. Her ability to articulate her son's warmth & compassion, his quirks & his strengths, his well-rounded existence when recounting her heartbreak over her missing son just broke my heart.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts on how the school system works. It is so completely different than what we experience on the East Coast that I'm sure it led to concern and confusion only because of its differences. It's an interesting way to incorporate a wide range of students without making any feel different or left out, or left behind. I think I rather like it.
 
nao said:
PaulR..i agree.. His parents may care and love him, but they sure do not have an open honest relationship. OMG they watch his bank account.
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I disagree completely. Owen is young, doesn't appear to work, and is going to college full time. I tend to believe that his account is an account that his parents set up for him and put money in for his needs. Of course they'd watch his bank account. Even if it were his own, he would have to give them permission to "watch his bank account". Parents worry about their teens. Nothing wrong with that. That is part of loving your children & when things like this happen, it's a good thing that they can access it for any sign to what he might have been doing/thinking.
PdxErn said:
Do we know that they were monitoring his spending before his disappearance?
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Exactly. Mom said she knew he had money in his room & that it was gone, but "of course he could have spent it already". I don't think they check his account daily. If they did they would have known before Tuesday that he took $150 out - & then mom's reaction to that was "Owen's a savvy consumer. He knows it cost $3 every time you take money out". As a way to explain why he might have taken that much out at one time. His mom seems great. Just a very concerned, loving momma.
 
Apparently the medical examiner won't release more details about the cause of death. That would answer some questions. I suspect the impact of the fall would be evident (vs. some other cause of death), if he jumped off the bridge. Also, if there was a toxicology report done. I know this is still fresh, but if my son committed suicide, seemingly out of no where, I would want to be public about it, to help other families.
 
Has there been a death certificate? The police said "no evidence of foul play" but I hadn't heard or seen a link to a report on the death certificate yet.
 
The parents can access the autopsy since they had access to his medical records before his death. Sometimes toxicology can take awhile so maybe they are waiting for the final reporting. The St Johns Bridge is extremely high! I would assume he may have thrown stuff over the bridge and it sunk or possibly it came off in the water. I hope for Owen’s siblings that the parents will get the assistance that everyone would need to help them come to terms with his death, accept it happened and help other families. They may save a future life!
 
I could not find a thread on a murdered boy that occurred not long after Owen went missing. He was targeted, a hit, run over after he and his associates were leaving a bar. His friends drew guns shooting the driver of the van, who crashed and got away. While reading the article, the picture of the victim looked almost identical to Owen facially and body wise. Owen had his hair pulled back tight. This is an opinion, but it makes me question, if these 2 groups that the article alluded to were some type of Irish or something gang type members/group, could be related, in Owen being mistaken for the real target by members until they figured too late, they had the wrong guy. I do not know the rules, so I will not post the article here of the Owen look alike's murder, until someone tells me it is allowed.
 
Bree1950 said:
The parents can access the autopsy since they had access to his medical records before his death. Sometimes toxicology can take awhile so maybe they are waiting for the final reporting. The St Johns Bridge is extremely high! I would assume he may have thrown stuff over the bridge and it sunk or possibly it came off in the water. I hope for Owen’s siblings that the parents will get the assistance that everyone would need to help them come to terms with his death, accept it happened and help other families. They may save a future life!
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Huh? His parents have every right to question the circumstances of their sons death. They do not need to be told to accept anything. There are no definitive answers yet, and many many cases have been closed with false quick assumptions that turned out to be false and the victim was murdered, but labeled no foul play initially. The way the cops handled this entire case could be described as a bumbling mess, many mistakes, following a path, road not relevant to his location for weeks.
 
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