A photo album of memories sits between Jennifer Buta and John DeMay as they remember their oldest child – Jordan. They watched as Jordan grew into a happy, attractive high school athlete with plans to attend college close to home. On March 24, 2022, his parents say he was preparing to go on a spring break trip with his dad’s family. They went to bed thinking everything was OK. The next morning, Jordan was gone. The 17-year-old died by suicide. His dad found him.
“When I walked into that bedroom door and saw that. It was complete shock and I think I even said, 'Why Jordan?,’ you know, and I just turned around and walked out of there slowly. And it just feels like a dream, a nightmare and it’s something I will never get out of my mind,” DeMay said. Jordan is one of thousands of young victims. After a surge of cases in 2022, the FBI issued a warning about an “explosion” of cases. The federal agency reports boys and young men made up most of the 3,000 child sextortion victims that year. More than a dozen young people died by suicide, according to the FBI and Department of Justice