February 26, 2020 • 10 mins
In 1999, Kaycee Nicole created an account at an early social media network called CollegeClub.com. Social media networks and CollegeClub were quite new at the time, and Kaycee, an eager, smart and ambitious high school senior from Kansas, was ready and willing to help the small, but growing, site. She offered her help with administrative tasks and quickly made friends with the staff there. In fact, she quickly made friends with just about everyone, including other users on the site.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Up that freak kind, invite theground, make us grip our thin,
I setful up a Mama's fritualcy reformedInternet Show. Hello, everybody, welcome
(00:27):
back to Internet Freak Show. Todaywe're going to be covering a woman by
the name of Casey Nicole. Innineteen ninety nine, Casey created an account
at an early social media network calledCollegeclub dot com. Social media networks and
college club were quite new at thattime, and Casey was an eager,
smart, and ambitious high school seniorfrom Kansas. She was ready and willing
(00:50):
to help the small but growing website. She offered to help with administrative tasks,
and she quickly made friends with thestaff there. In fact, she
quickly made friends with just about everybody, including other users of the site.
Just like today's social media networks,College Club allowed his visitors to upload photos
make friends things like that. Caseywas a typical high school student of that
(01:14):
era, blond and bubbly, withmany photos depicting her as a basketball star.
Casey made many friends online, includinga Canadian who was living in Hong
Kong at that time named Randall Vanderwoning. During a private conversation with Randall Casey
revealed her battle with leukemia, whichat that time was in remission. Shortly
(01:34):
after, she confessed to Randall thatthe cancer had returned. Although they only
maintained an online friendship at that time, Randall cared greatly for Casey and he
was deeply concerned about her well being. With Casey and Kansas and Randall in
Hong Kong, he couldn't really domuch to help her, but he was
willing to lend his talents as aweb designer to provide some assistance. He
(01:56):
offered to set her up with ablog dedicated to her fight with cancer,
and she accepted that offer. Shenamed the blog Living Colors and started blogging
away in August of two thousand.At the time, her blog attracted a
lot of attention. Thousands of peoplevisited it every day to read her updates.
The updates ranged from what she wasexperiencing medically too emotionally. Many entries
(02:21):
were exactly what you'd expect from somebodyso young and who maybe didn't understand though
gravity the situation. For example,sometimes she would post about cute doctors or
quote song lyrics. As Casey battledher cancer, her mother, Debbie,
also started Blogging about this battle fromthe mother's perspective, she chronicled how difficult
it was to see her daughter struggling. In April of two thousand and one,
(02:46):
Casey revealed that her liver was failingand that she didn't have much time
left. Randall, who was Casey'sbiggest supporter since the beginning, told Casey
that he had to meet her tosupport her through this time. Casey told
Randall that she would love to meethim, but not until after she took
a trip to see the ocean,which was an experience that she wanted to
have before she passed. The tripto the ocean and Randall's visits, unfortunately
(03:12):
never happened. On May fifteenth,a tearful and inconsolable Debbi called Randall to
let him know that Casey had passed. She had died of a brain aneurysm.
Soon after, news was posted toCasey's blog. It read, thank
you for the love, the joy, the laughter, and the tears.
We shall love you always and forever. Casey Nicole passed away May fourteenth,
(03:34):
two thousand and one, at theage of nineteen. News of Casey's death
traveled far and wide across the Internet. College club and its employees and users
were crushed by the news. Asite called MetaFilter and the users there had
also followed the story closely and werevery upset by Casey's death. While Casey
was still fighting the cancer, shedid accept gifts and donations to a po
(03:57):
box, but upon her death thatbox was shut down. Thousands and thousands
of Internet users wanted to help her, though. They tried to send in
donations and flowers to support Debbie inher loss and pay tribute to Casey's legacy.
By May seventeenth, Debbie had toldRandall that she was not accepting cards,
donations, flowers, or gifts becausethey'd already had a memorial service and
(04:19):
Casey had already been cremated. Tosome Internet users three days, it seemed
like far too fast to have adeath, a memorial service, and a
cremation. It didn't take the Internetall that long to figure out that if
Debbie was lying about this one thing, maybe she'd also lied about some other
things. Users started to go throughold posts, but this time with new
(04:42):
eyes. Rather than give Casey thebenefit of the doubt as a teenager writing
about her battle with cancer, theyread them with skepticism that maybe Casey never
existed at all. For the conclusionof the Casey in a Cool Story,
please stay tuned after these words fromour sponsors. Some points that Casey had
made throughout her journey never really sattoo well with the community that had followed
(05:04):
her story. For example, conditionsthat she described that would normally involve a
few days in the ICU, butshe said she was discharged immediately while Casey
was still in the midst of herstruggles. These were easy to hand wave
away as a confused kid or somebodyexaggerating their condition, but in the midst
of this skepticism they were harder todeny. Other things didn't quite line up
(05:28):
with Casey's death either. Nobody couldfind an obituary from any newspaper or funeral
home, for example. But thebiggest issue that people seemed to have about
Casey is that nobody had ever mether offline. While many had followed her
blog, talked to her via instantmessenger or over the phone, nobody had
met her in real life. Thatwas pretty hard to believe for a teenager
(05:49):
as outgoing, friendly and likable online. How is it possible that she didn't
have any friends outside of the Internet. As more and more holes began to
appear in the story, once againreached out to Randall and told him that
Casey was not her real daughter,and Casey wasn't even her real name.
Casey was a foster child and thatis why no one could uncover anything else
(06:11):
about her. But Debbie also wantedRandall to keep this part of the story
is secret, asking him not toshare it online. Randall respected Debbie's wishes,
but some doubt was creeping into Randall'shead as well. The Internet turned
on Casey over the course of afew days, from mourning a dead teenager
after a year's long struggle with leukemiato pouring over old posts, photos,
(06:32):
and more. To explain away thewhole tragedy. They went back to revisit
the original college club account that Caseyhad created, particularly the photos that she'd
posted of herself. In the backgroundof one photo, they saw a school
mascot. With some clever Internet detectivework, they found the school where those
pictures were taken, and then thejersey number on Casey's uniform. They eventually
(06:55):
found this player. While this playerknew Debbie she was named Casey, she
had never been ill and she hadno idea that her photos were being used
online. With these lies adding upand Debbie feeling the pressure of the Internet
closing in on her, Debbie hadno choice but to admit the truth.
On May twentieth, just six daysafter Casey's death and three days after people
(07:17):
started unraveling the truth, Debbie onceagain emailed Randall the whole truth Casey had
never existed. She was a completefabrication of Debby's The same users who had
followed Casey's story so closely, withso much support and friendliness, were now
following the same story with anger andrevenge on their mind. They wanted Debbie
(07:39):
to be investigated for fraud or arrestedfor simply toying with the emotions of the
Internet. For her part, Debbiesays she regrets her actions, but she
does believe that her writings did spreadsome positivity throughout the Internet. I'm not
sure I buy that, though.What positivity did this scam spread? It
seems to me that it played withthe emotions of thousands of Internet users for
(08:03):
no real benefit. Usually a scamlike this would have a payoff. Maybe
it's financial, getting people to donateto a go fund me or something like
that. Maybe it's to sell abook or merchandise, But what motivation did
Debbie have to create and then killa teenager online? That seems to be
the weirdest part of the story tome, and Debbie doesn't have much to
(08:26):
say about it. These days,twenty years later, we're all familiar with
fake Internet personas. Kids are wornto never trust a stranger's story online.
We all get friend requests rather frequentlyfrom people promoting porn sites. But Casey
was different. She wasn't a shellof a profile designed to sell products or
for any other obvious purpose. Sheexisted only to upset people. I'm not
(08:52):
sure what positivity Debbie thinks she wasspreading, but it seems to me that
she only spreads cynicism. Next time, people won't be so eager to believe
their writings of Internet strangers, alwaysdoubting their story. Thank you for listening
to this episode of Internet Freak Show. For more podcasts, or if you
want to start your own podcast,check out the geek Nerdery podcasting Network.
(09:16):
We've got podcasts on reality shows,horror movies, exploitation, pop culture,
and more. If you want toreach out to me. Please do it
via Twitter. I am at TimWatson, and be sure to leave iTunes
reviews. I do check them andreading them does give me some motivation to
keep this podcast going. So Iwant to take just a few seconds to
thank those that have left reviews.So thank you to Jay Stovel, Ghosts
(09:37):
of Mozart, Maverick, Crystal Gunfox, and Data Transfer. I do read
your reviews and I appreciate them.If you want to see more episodes of
Internet Freak Show, please do considerleaving a review. Thanks and we'll see
you next time. Until next time, Steve Free be lurdery
Up that freak kind, invite theground, make us grip our thin,
I setful up a Mama's fritualcy reformedInternet Show. Hello, everybody, welcome
(00:27):
back to Internet Freak Show. Todaywe're going to be covering a woman by
the name of Casey Nicole. Innineteen ninety nine, Casey created an account
at an early social media network calledCollegeclub dot com. Social media networks and
college club were quite new at thattime, and Casey was an eager,
smart, and ambitious high school seniorfrom Kansas. She was ready and willing
(00:50):
to help the small but growing website. She offered to help with administrative tasks,
and she quickly made friends with thestaff there. In fact, she
quickly made friends with just about everybody, including other users of the site.
Just like today's social media networks,College Club allowed his visitors to upload photos
make friends things like that. Caseywas a typical high school student of that
(01:14):
era, blond and bubbly, withmany photos depicting her as a basketball star.
Casey made many friends online, includinga Canadian who was living in Hong
Kong at that time named Randall Vanderwoning. During a private conversation with Randall Casey
revealed her battle with leukemia, whichat that time was in remission. Shortly
(01:34):
after, she confessed to Randall thatthe cancer had returned. Although they only
maintained an online friendship at that time, Randall cared greatly for Casey and he
was deeply concerned about her well being. With Casey and Kansas and Randall in
Hong Kong, he couldn't really domuch to help her, but he was
willing to lend his talents as aweb designer to provide some assistance. He
(01:56):
offered to set her up with ablog dedicated to her fight with cancer,
and she accepted that offer. Shenamed the blog Living Colors and started blogging
away in August of two thousand.At the time, her blog attracted a
lot of attention. Thousands of peoplevisited it every day to read her updates.
The updates ranged from what she wasexperiencing medically too emotionally. Many entries
(02:21):
were exactly what you'd expect from somebodyso young and who maybe didn't understand though
gravity the situation. For example,sometimes she would post about cute doctors or
quote song lyrics. As Casey battledher cancer, her mother, Debbie,
also started Blogging about this battle fromthe mother's perspective, she chronicled how difficult
it was to see her daughter struggling. In April of two thousand and one,
(02:46):
Casey revealed that her liver was failingand that she didn't have much time
left. Randall, who was Casey'sbiggest supporter since the beginning, told Casey
that he had to meet her tosupport her through this time. Casey told
Randall that she would love to meethim, but not until after she took
a trip to see the ocean,which was an experience that she wanted to
have before she passed. The tripto the ocean and Randall's visits, unfortunately
(03:12):
never happened. On May fifteenth,a tearful and inconsolable Debbi called Randall to
let him know that Casey had passed. She had died of a brain aneurysm.
Soon after, news was posted toCasey's blog. It read, thank
you for the love, the joy, the laughter, and the tears.
We shall love you always and forever. Casey Nicole passed away May fourteenth,
(03:34):
two thousand and one, at theage of nineteen. News of Casey's death
traveled far and wide across the Internet. College club and its employees and users
were crushed by the news. Asite called MetaFilter and the users there had
also followed the story closely and werevery upset by Casey's death. While Casey
was still fighting the cancer, shedid accept gifts and donations to a po
(03:57):
box, but upon her death thatbox was shut down. Thousands and thousands
of Internet users wanted to help her, though. They tried to send in
donations and flowers to support Debbie inher loss and pay tribute to Casey's legacy.
By May seventeenth, Debbie had toldRandall that she was not accepting cards,
donations, flowers, or gifts becausethey'd already had a memorial service and
(04:19):
Casey had already been cremated. Tosome Internet users three days, it seemed
like far too fast to have adeath, a memorial service, and a
cremation. It didn't take the Internetall that long to figure out that if
Debbie was lying about this one thing, maybe she'd also lied about some other
things. Users started to go throughold posts, but this time with new
(04:42):
eyes. Rather than give Casey thebenefit of the doubt as a teenager writing
about her battle with cancer, theyread them with skepticism that maybe Casey never
existed at all. For the conclusionof the Casey in a Cool Story,
please stay tuned after these words fromour sponsors. Some points that Casey had
made throughout her journey never really sattoo well with the community that had followed
(05:04):
her story. For example, conditionsthat she described that would normally involve a
few days in the ICU, butshe said she was discharged immediately while Casey
was still in the midst of herstruggles. These were easy to hand wave
away as a confused kid or somebodyexaggerating their condition, but in the midst
of this skepticism they were harder todeny. Other things didn't quite line up
(05:28):
with Casey's death either. Nobody couldfind an obituary from any newspaper or funeral
home, for example. But thebiggest issue that people seemed to have about
Casey is that nobody had ever mether offline. While many had followed her
blog, talked to her via instantmessenger or over the phone, nobody had
met her in real life. Thatwas pretty hard to believe for a teenager
(05:49):
as outgoing, friendly and likable online. How is it possible that she didn't
have any friends outside of the Internet. As more and more holes began to
appear in the story, once againreached out to Randall and told him that
Casey was not her real daughter,and Casey wasn't even her real name.
Casey was a foster child and thatis why no one could uncover anything else
(06:11):
about her. But Debbie also wantedRandall to keep this part of the story
is secret, asking him not toshare it online. Randall respected Debbie's wishes,
but some doubt was creeping into Randall'shead as well. The Internet turned
on Casey over the course of afew days, from mourning a dead teenager
after a year's long struggle with leukemiato pouring over old posts, photos,
(06:32):
and more. To explain away thewhole tragedy. They went back to revisit
the original college club account that Caseyhad created, particularly the photos that she'd
posted of herself. In the backgroundof one photo, they saw a school
mascot. With some clever Internet detectivework, they found the school where those
pictures were taken, and then thejersey number on Casey's uniform. They eventually
(06:55):
found this player. While this playerknew Debbie she was named Casey, she
had never been ill and she hadno idea that her photos were being used
online. With these lies adding upand Debbie feeling the pressure of the Internet
closing in on her, Debbie hadno choice but to admit the truth.
On May twentieth, just six daysafter Casey's death and three days after people
(07:17):
started unraveling the truth, Debbie onceagain emailed Randall the whole truth Casey had
never existed. She was a completefabrication of Debby's The same users who had
followed Casey's story so closely, withso much support and friendliness, were now
following the same story with anger andrevenge on their mind. They wanted Debbie
(07:39):
to be investigated for fraud or arrestedfor simply toying with the emotions of the
Internet. For her part, Debbiesays she regrets her actions, but she
does believe that her writings did spreadsome positivity throughout the Internet. I'm not
sure I buy that, though.What positivity did this scam spread? It
seems to me that it played withthe emotions of thousands of Internet users for
(08:03):
no real benefit. Usually a scamlike this would have a payoff. Maybe
it's financial, getting people to donateto a go fund me or something like
that. Maybe it's to sell abook or merchandise, But what motivation did
Debbie have to create and then killa teenager online? That seems to be
the weirdest part of the story tome, and Debbie doesn't have much to
(08:26):
say about it. These days,twenty years later, we're all familiar with
fake Internet personas. Kids are wornto never trust a stranger's story online.
We all get friend requests rather frequentlyfrom people promoting porn sites. But Casey
was different. She wasn't a shellof a profile designed to sell products or
for any other obvious purpose. Sheexisted only to upset people. I'm not
(08:52):
sure what positivity Debbie thinks she wasspreading, but it seems to me that
she only spreads cynicism. Next time, people won't be so eager to believe
their writings of Internet strangers, alwaysdoubting their story. Thank you for listening
to this episode of Internet Freak Show. For more podcasts, or if you
want to start your own podcast,check out the geek Nerdery podcasting Network.
(09:16):
We've got podcasts on reality shows,horror movies, exploitation, pop culture,
and more. If you want toreach out to me. Please do it
via Twitter. I am at TimWatson, and be sure to leave iTunes
reviews. I do check them andreading them does give me some motivation to
keep this podcast going. So Iwant to take just a few seconds to
thank those that have left reviews.So thank you to Jay Stovel, Ghosts
(09:37):
of Mozart, Maverick, Crystal Gunfox, and Data Transfer. I do read
your reviews and I appreciate them.If you want to see more episodes of
Internet Freak Show, please do considerleaving a review. Thanks and we'll see
you next time. Until next time, Steve Free be lurdery
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