Taylor Behl was a pretty, sympathetic, and emotionally trusting 17-year-old freshman who came to the city of Richmond in late summer to begin studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. How can these things be certain? The photos she posted of herself and the writings in her online weblogs at LiveJournal.com and Myspace tell the story.
Behl was tight with a group of friends in her hometown of Vienna, Va.--they teased each other online about their jobs at a local Starbucks. She posted her angst and elation on the internet, showing just how delicate the line between adolescence and adulthood can be. Her aliases included "jailbait" (used by "bad boys") and "Baby Girl," something her mom called her. She complained about her mom's house rules and restrictions; Behl couldn't wait to leave home. She listed her top fears: "boys," "men," and "my dad." She also revealed some of her sexual explorations. She was excited about learning to play the guitar and was thrilled when she finally got her own car. "Yeeeessssss," she wrote.
By all accounts she was fitting into college life at VCU. One friend wrote in an online blog that Behl was "loving being on her own."
So why did this girl end up dead only weeks after starting her college career? Why did she feel compelled to share so much personal detail about herself in online blogs? VCU police, the Richmond Police Department, and the FBI are trying to answer these questions as they comb through 12 months' worth of blog postings by not only Behl, but also other characters such as "Cino" and "Skulz."
The Behl case has cast a cloud over VCU. The national media criticized its police department for not involving the Richmond Police in the case sooner. Behl disappeared from the VCU campus on September 5, 2005, Labor Day, after spending most of the weekend back home with family. One month later she was found dead in a shallow grave 70 miles outside of the city.
A suspect in the case, a 38-year-old photographer and former convicted felon named Ben Fawley (aka "Skulz"), was reportedly once a VCU employee, working between 2001 and 2003 at clerical jobs in campus recreational facilities. He worked on campus during the time when he was a registered student, a VCU spokesperson told the press. VCU administrators did not do background checks on Fawley and did not know he had previously been arrested for car theft and other burglaries in Pennsylvania. "Cino" has turned out to be a mutual friend of Fawley's and Behl's. A gag order prevents the police department from revealing more.
What is clear, though, is the role the internet has played in the case. Behl's everyday jottings live on in cyberspace, but they now have a new kind of dramatic importance. Friends have composed tribute entries with prose and music.
A number of other bloggers, including online journalists and true crime writers, believe that Behl knew Fawley months before she came to Richmond and that some of the pensive poses of herself that she posted online may have, ironically, been taken by Fawley.
Photos that Fawley saved on one of his many computers led police to Behl's shallow grave, a spot near a lake in Mathews County. Authorities also found digital pictures of Behl on Fawley's computers.
The details of Behl's death have compelled VCU to address a new area of campus security--online safety. Behl was like millions of students her age who share intimate personal details in what are now known as online communities. Like many, she said more than she needed to, opening the door for cyberstalkers to exploit her vulnerabilities.
New Orientation
Educating students about online dangers is now a priority at VCU. "This is the most important thing we've learned," President Eugene Trani said in a statement made after the Behl investigation began.
Beginning this month, with spring semester 2006, VCU is incorporating online safety education into VCU 101, a student orientation class. Campus police and the Student Affairs department have already prepared online educational safety materials for freshmen and transfer students coming in mid-year, says Pam Lepley, director of University News Services. Instruction will cover basic warnings about not giving out Social Security numbers and cell phone numbers online, as well as include information about healthy and unhealthy relationships. Lepley and administrators now are equating student participation in online communities with drinking and sex. All can lead to risky behaviors.
