FARMVILLE Helen Pappas, a sophomore at Longwood University, recalled the misgivings she had about a guy she met online.
"I'm thinking this guy could be a big creep," said Pappas, who uses MySpace and Facebook. That didn't turn out to be the case, and they dated for a year.
But Pappas, like many Longwood students interviewed yesterday, is rethinking her relationship with the Internet in the aftermath of a quadruple slaying in the home of a Longwood professor that has been tied to a MySpace relationship between the suspect and the professor's daughter.
Pappas was among the students on this tranquil campus who were shaken late Friday night by a campus e-mail alerting them that multiple victims had been found dead near the university.
As if all this isn't unnerving enough, Pappas, who is from Newport News, is among the Longwood rugby team members who say they caught a glimpse of Richard Samuel Alden McCroskey III, the 20-year-old from Castro Valley, Calif., that police have identified as their suspect in the killings. McCroskey has been charged with the death of Mark Niederbrock, a local pastor and the husband of Debra S. Kelley, an associate professor of sociology and criminal justice studies. She also is feared dead, although authorities have not confirmed that she was one of the victims.
The rugby field is across the street from Kelley's home. "It just happened right under our nose," Pappas said.
Longwood senior Jonathan Kindle, from Keysville, said Kelley was a favorite instructor of his roommate, Brandon Nash, who was devastated by the tragedy.
"I think it's crazy," Kindle said. "Nothing like this ever happens in Farmville."
The Internet can bring the world, complete with its horrors, to every small-town living room.
We still don't know what happened in Farmville, but it appears Kelley's daughter had an online relationship with McCroskey via MySpace, and that McCroskey visited her.
"I've never really been into MySpace," said Jenny Irby, a Longwood junior from Midlothian. "My mom said it was a bad thing to do."
We could only wish, in the aftermath of these slayings, that all parents were as hard-line.
As anyone who has been on the receiving end of a crude e-mail realizes, the Internet can be cold and impersonal. There are no eye-to-eye conversations, no soul-gazing. The online personality can bear little resemblance to an authentic one.
It's difficult to know how people think, even up close. How well can you get to know someone whose connections with you are digital? How well could Kelley's daughter, who also is among those believed dead, have known McCroskey through an online-only relationship?
What we are left with is a cautionary tale about technology canceling out humanity.
And the following lessons:
Social networkers need to keep their information private. Social networks are a potentially tragic dating service. Parents need to scrutinize the relationships their children forge online.
And we all should be more careful about extending our welcome mats, virtual and real.
Contact Michael Paul Williams at (804) 649-6815 or mwilliams@timesdispatch.com.
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