How Grim Was My Valley

The string of deaths began with Dale Crole, 18. He hanged himself at an abandoned warehouse on Jan. 5, 2007. His friend David Dilling, 19, took police to the scene. Dilling died the same way a few weeks later, in mid-February. A week later the boys' friend Thomas Davies, 20, hanged himself in a local park. After two months' respite another local youth, 21-year-old Alan Price, was found dead of similar causes. In June his friend Leigh Jenkins, 22, hanged himself in another friend's bedroom. Another of Crole's friends, Liam Clarke, 20, died the same way in a park two days after Christmas. An acquaintance of his, Gareth Morgan, 27, hanged himself at home on the anniversary of Crole's death.

The people of Bridgend are baffled and scared. Since the start of 2007, a total of 17 young people in and around the played-out South Wales coal town--most of them teenagers--have killed themselves by hanging. Few townspeople had any idea at first that the deaths were something out of the ordinary. The suicide rate in Wales is nearly twice that of the United Kingdom as a whole, and sinkholes of poverty like Bridgend tend to be even worse. In the town and its surrounding valleys, an area with a total population of some 130,000, the suicide rate among males 15-24 over the past decade has been 43 per 100,000, more than double the Welsh rate of 19 per 100,000. But Bridgend has never suffered so many suicides in such quick succession--particularly among so many who were friends or acquaintances. And no one knows why it's happening now.

The deaths have accelerated in recent weeks. Each new suicide has inspired another memorial page on popular social-networking Web sites like Bebo. Natasha Randall, 17, posted a cheery tribute on Liam Clarke's memorial page on Jan. 15: "RIP Clarky boy!! gonna miss ya! Always remember the gd times!" Two days later she hanged herself. And that was another odd thing: doctors say women rarely ever commit suicide that way; they're far more likely to take pills or slit their wrists. Even so, the next day one of Randall's girlfriends tried to hang herself; luckily found by her father, who cut her down in time to save her life. A third young woman, 18-year-old Angeline Fuller, did hang herself two weeks later. Then came the deadliest five days yet: Nathaniel Pritchard, 15, hanged himself on Feb. 15, followed a few hours later by his 20-year-old cousin and neighbor, Kelly Stephenson, an accomplished athlete. Four days later their 16-year-old neighbor Jenna Parry, a trainee hairdresser, who was found hanging from a tree near her home on the city's outskirts.

Britain's tabloids went wild, with Fleet Street headlines like DEATH VALLEYS and SUICIDE TOWN and free-floating speculation of an Internet-spawned suicide pact. Local officials responded with righteous fury, denouncing the press for its insensitivity and suggesting that the barrage of media attention had encouraged more suicide attempts. "What's the link since Natasha Randall's death?" said assistant chief constable David Morris at a press conference. "It is you--the media!" Some townspeople viewed the situation differently. "I don't think they should blame the media," says Bridgend resident Tracy Roberts. "The media have at least highlighted the problem that they're not putting the services into these dead-end towns where we have to live." Her 19-year-old son, Anthony Martin, hanged himself in Bridgend last April, although he evidently had no ties to the other victims. Arthur Cassidy, a social-psychology professor who runs a youth-suicide intervention group in Belfast, agrees that the deaths aren't the tabloids' fault. "We have no evidence that newspapers influence suicidal behavior," he says. "Young people don't read newspapers. They get their news on the Internet."

The Internet is a recurring theme in the Bridgend hangings. Most and possibly all of the victims were members of the Bebo networking site, and many of them posted messages on the public memorial pages of those who preceded them in suicide. "I'm sure they all knew each other," says Ferdinand, 14, who lives near the 17th victim's house. (The boy's last name is withheld at his father's request.) "I knew six of them myself," the boy says. "I've been on some of their personal pages on Bebo, and they were talking about 'I don't think I can cope with it,' and 'I'm going to end it.' I didn't think they'd really do it." His friend George adds, "It's like it's the fashion or something."

According to Frederick and other kids in the area, local cops are visiting the homes of young people who have posted possibly suicidal messages on Bebo, and the site has been taking down those postings. Bebo spokesman Sam Evans, replying by e-mail to NEWSWEEK's queries, confirmed that Bebo does remove profile or memorial pages of deceased persons upon requests by family members or law enforcement. "Bebo is working with South Wales police to assist with the ongoing investigation in any way it can," says Evans.