About four years ago, Jenn Buta’s son, Jordan, 17, took his own life.
Parents, family, friends, and all who knew Jordan in their Michigan town were stunned. He was upbeat, talented, and loved.
Then, they got access to his phone…
Late at night on March 24, 2022, Jordan DeMay received a message on Instagram from a young woman he didn’t know. Her account “Dani.Robertts” appeared real, and she claimed they had friends in common. So he replied.
After a couple of hours of small talk, she began to flirt and then became sexual with the teen, eventually sending a revealing photograph. She invited Jordan to do the same.
He thought, “Why not?” and did so.
Immediately, Dani’s tone changed. “She” replied with threats to share his compromising photo with his family and friends unless Jordan pay up. He didn’t have the $1,000 being asked, so sent $300.
Not good enough, “Dani” replied, and sent Jordan a photo collage with his explicit picture in the center of photos of his loved ones. Threatening an imminent message blast to all his close contacts, Jordan asked, “Why are you doing this to me?”
“I got all I need RN [right now] to make your life miserable dude,” they replied.
Jorden offered his last $55, but the scammers persisted. So he made a threat of his own.
“I’m [going to] kms rn.” (kill myself right now)
“Good. Do that fast,” replied the tormentors.
At around 3:30am, Jordan wrote to his Mom to say, “I love you.” and to his girlfriend to say, “I made a mistake...”
He then went into his room and shot himself.
“Dani” was three young Nigerian men using a hacked Instagram account.
Through a fortuitous local connection to Nigerian law enforcement, and through the perpetrators’ own devious nature having them then start targeting Jordan’s girlfriend from the same Instagram account, the FBI was able to locate and extradite two of the three culprits—brothers who were then aged 21 and 24.
This would become a groundbreaking case having international scammers face the U.S. justice system for harming Americans.
Jenn walked upon this new ground—on her own personal shaky footing—into the courtroom and faced those who did this to her son.
The brothers would be sentenced to 17.5 years in prison.
Also along this journey, Jenn went public. She and Jordan’s father, John, were featured on an episode of ABC’s Nightline. Individually, she has been active on TikTok, which is where I discovered her and Jordan’s story.
Recently, she shared her and Jordan’s story with me, revealing the details of this tragedy as well as this underworld that preys on innocent lives.
Her ultimate loss has spurred progress in criminal justice for Americans in the Internet world. It has also opened her eyes to the evil out there that flipped her (and so many other families’) world upside-down.
Jenn has attracted many to this issue and many to her—parents who’ve experienced a similar loss, parents who’ve shared how their teen came to them under these circumstances because of her, and then some teens themselves thanking Jenn for her warnings that helped them evade this growing “sextortion” scam.
I’m calling this story “Gone Too Soon: The Sextortion of Jordan DeMay.”
Stay tuned.
-Brandon
Powerful storytelling on an issue that needs way more attention. The way Jenn channeled her grief into advocacy is incredible - turning her worstexperience into a warning that's literally saving other kids from the same trap. The fact that the scammers told Jordan "good, do that fast" shows a level of sociopathy that's terrifying, but also exactly why these stories need tobe public.
Damn that's dark. Thanks for sharing Brandon. The social media landscape is just rife with scams. It can affect anyone.