Megan is Missing

I’m not about to lie: anything on topic regarding online predators creeps me the fuck out. This is something that is very real and scary as hell. It wasn’t too long ago, I watched a CSI: Miami episode about this, and there are shows on Investigation Discovery all the time that discuss this very frightening, and sickeningly twisted online activity. Young teenage girls chatting online with older men masquerading as teenage boys their own age fall prey to them. Typically these men are gradually gaining their trust, winning them over with methodical manipulation, telling them what they want to hear, and by capitalizing on their vulnerability, these sickos eventually get a meet. A fake photograph of some guy is shown to them, and if he is cute enough all that remains is to use language that connects to their age group to secure their undividing attention and affection. Megan is Missing focuses on technology of today to point out how easy it now is for predators to satiate their base, hostile, secret desires and eventual homicidal tendencies do often conclude after these monsters have had their fun. While Megan is shown as a beautiful teen acting out, with profanity excessively used in her dialogue and conversations about sex and blow jobs often mentioned with friends, it is later learned during a telling document of “who she is” that this poor girl was raped/molested by her imprisoned stepfather and abandoned by her father. Her mother blames her for the stepdad’s incarceration and often berates her. Megan’s difficulty adjusting to any sense of normalcy makes sense because of such a rough childhood/teenage upbringing. Her disappearance becomes noticeable, but missing persons cases (I watch Disappeared on Investigation Discovery religiously) typically are frustratingly lacking. So that the investigation goes nowhere makes logical sense because they often result in no body found. When Amy tries to find her when others fail to connect the dots or fail to realize the reason she might have disappeared, it puts her in jeopardy. “Josh” who seduced Megan online realizes that Amy (who sees him as questionable) is a threat and soon both girls are missing. While I’m not sure Amy’s abduction is quite as plausible as Megan’s, I just watched a show the other day that featured the “Springfield Three”, three women in Missouri who vanished without a trace, so the idea that someone could do away with two teenage girls might not be so far-fetched. I still can’t imagine Amy would put herself in such a position, embrace that kind of danger without guidance from others.

 

Amy is innocuous, craving acceptance, kind-hearted, and innocent. The “cool kids” want nothing to do with her, but Megan is different. Megan might seem like a party-girl into all the bad stuff, but Amy offers her an ear and a heart. When Amy mentions that her father is rarely home due to his job, this is another tell that allows us to understand something behind their bond. The final 22 minutes enter a dark place I didn’t care to go. Is it unsettling to see what happened to Amy, stuck in a room, chained, in just her bra and panties, soon to be raped, her virginity taken, eating out of a dog bowl, with no light, soon to be stuffed in a barrel, eventually seeing Megan in a decomposed state? Sure. Was it necessary? I didn’t think so. However, found footage allows for such events to be recorded and viewed on a discarded video camera, with the psychopath involved never seen on screen. The two “fetish” photos of Megan trapped in a wooden device with her head in a hole, her face with metal prongs forcing open her eyes, nose, and mouth, reported by someone perusing a website for such material; was this necessary? Megan is Missing is designed to strike a chord and poke a nerve. The first hour is spent with teenage girls and conversation. The last 22 minutes is spent seeing innocence destroyed. Not my idea of a fun evening.