A 22-year-old Romanian woman committed suicide after using a website that involved her partner committing suicide.

More than 700 Britons have posted on a pro-suicide website looking for someone to die with. BBC Investigations. Among the victims was a Romanian woman who was a student.

The website (not mentioned in the BBC report) has a members-only forum-like section where users can search for suicidal partners.

The investigation also found that predators used the site to target vulnerable women.

Double suicide

In December 2019, Angela Stevens’ 28-year-old son Brett travelled to Scotland from his home in the Midlands to meet a woman he had been in contact with online. “Buddy Thread”.

The two rented an Airbnb and began their life together.

“I miss everything about Brett, his smile, his infectious laugh”Angela said.

Since her son’s death, she’s spent years researching pro-suicide websites — specifically posts by partners.

‘This is a very dangerous place’Angela said.

She compared it to a dark version of dating apps.

“Where else can you find a life partner?” She said. “It’s absolutely despicable.”

The post encouraged users to call it a day and provided instructions on how to do so. Analysis by the BBC found more than 5,000 messages on the topic from around the world.

An investigation in March by a BBC team, which created an anonymous account and analysed the number and content of messages, suggested 130 Britons may have committed suicide after using chemicals promoted by the site.

‘Exploiting Desperate Souls’

Members post their age, gender, location and preferred method of death, looking for someone to die with.

Helen Kite, whose sister Linda posted an ad looking for a suicide partner in 2023, said it was a forum that “exploited desperate souls”. “The partner part is setting them on a path to inevitable death.”

“I am 54F (female) and I live near London”, Linda wrote. “I can travel, I can pay for a hotel if that’s appropriate. Obviously, it’s best to discuss that first”.

Linda contacted a man through a partner clue and met him at a hotel in Romford, east London. On July 1, 2023, they consumed toxic chemicals and died together.

Helen said Linda was found “lying next to the body of a stranger”. Helen believes that every day “Innocent victims seeking support are trapped” in the forums “unhindered by the authorities.”

In September 2023, Helen’s other sister, Sarah, devastated by the loss of Linda, also entered the forum, ingested the same toxic chemicals, and died.

Predators target women

During the BBC’s investigation, another more disturbing aspect of the partner’s postings came to light. Predators appear to be using it to target vulnerable and suicidal people, particularly women.

In 2022, Glasgow Crown Court heard how Craig McInally, 31, responded to a series of messages posted on Companion Post by young women looking for someone to be with.

He convinced one of the women, a vulnerable 25-year-old, to come to his apartment and “practice” his suicide. McInally choked her repeatedly until she passed out.

McInally was arrested at his home and found to have provided similar “advice and assistance” to other suicidal young women whom he had met through his partner.

How did the Romanian student die?

Among the victims was Roberta Barbos, a 22-year-old Romanian student.

In the message seen by the BBC, McInally told Roberta that he “had a Damn great experience” She dated McInally once, then refused to see him again, but took her own life in February 2020.

“It was like something out of a horror movie, from another world,” said Maria Barbos, Roberta’s mother. “I can’t believe a site like this exists. They are some sick minds.”

A BBC investigation found that some users of the forum had even travelled abroad to meet their partners in the past two years. In two cases, American men travelled to the UK to meet and “assist” vulnerable young women in carrying out their suicide plans.

The site is small and based in the United States, and taking legal action against it would be “quite difficult.”

However, during an investigation into the site it emerged that one of the main moderators was a woman from the west of England.

The family of the deceased said the partners’ posts directly promoted suicide – which is illegal in the UK both online and offline.

“I think it’s a predator’s dream to have a partner column like this””, said Angela Stevens.
“Because it’s so open to abuse, I find it very, very scary.”