East Coast Man Sends Help to West Coast Teen Talking Suicide on Webcam

N.J. man calls police after California teen cuts himself during Webcam chat.

ByABC News
February 4, 2009, 2:35 PM

Feb. 4, 2009— -- A Sacramento, Calif. teen is recovering in the hospital after an apparent suicide attempt was thwarted when a New Jersey man he was chatting with via Webcam called police in California.

Police said they were able to track down the 18-year-old victim, who has not been identified, after receiving his name and cell phone number from Jesse Coltrane, 21, of Camden, N.J.

Coltrane, who knew the teen only through the Internet, said he received an online message from the victim at 10:30 p.m. on Monday that said he was about to attempt suicide.

The New Jersey man said he spoke to the teen for several hours via phone and then AOL instant messenger to convince him to change his mind. But on Tuesday morning, while still online and communicating with Coltrane via a video Webcam connection, the California teen started cutting himself with a razor blade, at which time Coltrane called the police, he said.

Coltrane said the teen expressed suicidal thoughts throughout their conversation and reported feeling neglected and depressed.

"He told me, 'You live your life.' He kept saying sorry for bringing me into this situation," Coltrane told ABC News.

"He complained about his life and felt that it was not worth living," Coltrane added.

Coltrane, an employee at an agency representing actors and models, said the victim contacted him on MySpace.com "for social reasons" and that he "barely" knew him.

"Suddenly it hit me. Someone needs to help him because if he kills himself, I am the only person who knows," Coltrane told ABC News 10 in Sacramento. "The guilt would have been on me."

Sacramento Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Norm Leong told ABC News that police received Coltrane's call at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday morning, and they were able to locate the victim in about three hours, based on just his cell phone number and name.

Leong said the teenager was in fine condition when police reached him. He had changed his mind about the suicide and had some "superficial" injuries.

"This is a unique case in the sense that very seldom do we run into Web-type things where it's being viewed by other people," Leong told ABC News 10. "Certainly, suicides happen, but very seldom they happen while someone is watching."