The fate of Nichole Cable , the 15 year old from Glenburn, Maine who was murdered on Mother’s Day, has caused many of her classmates and other young teen-agers to reconsider their use of Facebook and other social media.
Over 300 people crowded into Bangor Baptist Church last week for Cable’s funeral. The Maine State Police now believes that Nichole Cable was lured away from her home by 20-year-old Kyle Dube, who created a fake Facebook account in the name of another young man, Bryan Butterfield.
The fake Butterfield allegedly offered to meet the teen to share some marijuana. Instead, he kidnapped and killed her. Dube is now being held without bail on the charges.
According to the an affidavit written by Maine State Police Detective Thomas D. Pickering , a ski-mask wearing Kyle Dube duct-taped Cable’s mouth and then transported her in his father’s truck to the next location. The plan was to be a hero when he faked a rescue. Instead, he found that she had smothered to death, forcing him to dump the body in the woods.
Nichole Cable knew Kyle Dube but had previously rejected his sexual advances. He may have then used the fake Facebook account to set up the meeting that she would have otherwise ignored.
One of Cable’s friends, 16-year-old Ashley Pattershall, said that she too had been contacted multiple times by the fake Butterfield account — and that she believes that other classmates had been approached as well. She has since reviewed her Facebook friend list to make sure that it only includes confirmed friends and family members.
“A couple of my friends have deleted their Facebook, and some of my friends don’t have Facebook anymore,” she admitted.
I have a different idea. Keep the Facebook account, continue to use social media, and simply don’t engage with creeps who want to sell drugs. It seems a little more practical than deleting the whole account.
Dube also allegedly texted Cable in the past. Anyone going to throw out their cell phone?
Will you delete or review your Facebook account as a result of the Nichole Cable kidnapping plot?
[Nichole Cable photo courtesy Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department]