The woman linked to a fake MySpace profile of a 16-year-old boy created to start an Internet relationship with Megan Meier, the Missouri teen who hanged herself after receiving hurtful messages, is now believed to be the victim of a cyber-bullying impersonator herself.
And the online harassment laws that were passed after Meier's death last year now may be used to help the middle-aged woman, who many believe was responsible for the 13-year-old girl's suicide.
On Dec. 3, a blog entitled "Megan Had It Coming" carried an entry signed by Lori Drew, the woman involved in creating the fictitious profile that taunted Meier. The blog entry appeared on the same day St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas announced there wasn't enough evidence to charge anyone in connection with Meier's death.
"It's time I dropped the charade. Yes, I made this blog. Yes, I'm Lori Drew," the blogger wrote.
The posting, which recounts in chilling detail the entire Megan Meier incident, mentions Drew's daughter, who was once friends with Meier. At the time Meier was engaged in the bogus relationship on MySpace, the two girls were no longer close.
"My daughter had nothing to do with this," the blogger purporting to be Drew wrote. "Everyone needs to leave her alone. None of you can possibly know her involvement, and none of you can possibly know what she's gone through. She's just a kid. She doesn't deserve these brutal verbal attacks. Please stop."
In response to this blog and other news items about the case, angry Internet users left postings of Drew's home phone number, her business address and other personal information, urging people to tell Drew what they really think of her.
Comments on the "I Am Lori Drew" entry, many of them unsavory, numbered more than 2,500 on Thursday. "You have psychological problems," one began. "Don't burn in hell. Instead, I hope you rot in the dirt with the maggots and other disgusting vermin, since that's the only thing you deserve," another ended.
Drew's attorney, Jim Briscoe, denied that Drew had any involvement with the "Megan Had It Coming" blog.
"I can categorically say that she did not write it," Briscoe told FOXNews.com. "She has not said anything on the Internet, on any blogs, on any Internet sites."
Briscoe said that Drew, a neighbor of the Meiers, has purposely remained silent in the media and online during the investigation and since.
"That's part of why she's remained silent, so there's no confusion about that," Briscoe said. "Anything that's on the Web is not true. She hasn't done anything. She doesn't know anybody who's done it — anybody who's doing it or has done it."
Prosecutor Banas confirmed to FOXNews.com that the St. Charles County Sheriff's Office is investigating whether the "Megan Had It Coming" blog and other postings falsely attributed to Drew have violated any online harassment laws.
On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, speaking at a national conference of law enforcement officials in St. Louis, promised to keep up the pressure against online predators who target children.
Meier hanged herself on Oct. 16, 2006, after being dumped by "Josh," a fictitious boy created by an 18-year-old employee of Drew, in order to find out what Meier was saying about the Drews' daughter.
Dardenne Prairie, Mo., Meier's hometown, has since passed a law making online harassment a misdemeanor. Her death also prompted Gov. Matt Blunt on Tuesday to call for the creation of an Internet harassment task force, with recommendations to be made to his office within 30 days.
“Megan Meier’s senseless death is a tragic lesson that social networking sites and technology have opened a new door for criminals and bullies to prey on their victims,” Blunt said in a statement. “As families and friends continue to remember Megan and celebrate her life, we must ensure that our laws have the protections and penalties needed to safeguard Missourians from Internet harassment.”
Some online readers, skeptical that the blog belonged to Drew, surmised it to be the work of an Internet "troll."
Blogger.com, which houses the blog and lists "impersonation" as one of the things banned from the site, said it has no information that would call into question the authenticity of the "Megan Had It Coming" site.
"We take violations of Blogger's policy very seriously as such activities diminish the experience for our users," a spokesman for Google, Blogger's parent company, told FOXNews.com.
"Once we are notified about a blog that impersonates a person, we act quickly to remove it. We have not received an impersonation claim to date from the individual allegedly being impersonated."
Drew's lawyer said that online harassment laws could be used against those leaving messages for his client.
"I haven't seen the laws so I don't know exactly what they cover, but certainly she is being harassed by the Internet," Briscoe said. "Potentially, laws that are now being created out of this may be ones that people who are harassing her could be prosecuted [under]."
On Dec. 3, Banas said that statements from Drew and two teens who participated in the fictitious account couldn't meet criminal standards for the state's statutes on harassment, stalking or endangering the welfare of a child.
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