July 27, 2005 Mark Drybrough, a 32-year-old IT technician, hangs himself at his home in Coventry, United Kingdom.

August 2005 Mark Drybrough’s sister Carol looks through his computer to get clues as to what he was up to on-line in the weeks and days before his suicide. She finds chat logs and emails between her brother and someone claiming to be a female nurse in Minnesota called “Li”. In the chats, “Li” tells Mark how to hang himself and suggests he use a web camera. Mark’s mother, Elaine, notifies the West Midlands police and they away take his computer to investigate.

October 29, 2005 Elaine Drybrough tries in vain to send a hand written letter to the Minnesota police alerting them to the on-line activities of a person claiming to be a nurse named “Li”. Elaine’s letter is “returned to sender.” Read Elaine's letter [PDF 157kb]

April 2006 A coroner’s inquest is held in to the death of Mark Drybrough. In her statement to the coroner, Elaine Drybrough explains that Mark “was getting professional help and advice from an ex nurse in Minnesota in a suicide pact on the Internet.” The coroner later concludes that, “Mark had taken his own life while suffering from a severe mental illness.” The nurse in Minnesota named “Li” is not investigated. Read Elaine's coroner's statement [PDF 61kb]

November 2006 A retired teacher living in the UK named Celia Blay corresponds by email with a young woman in South America who tells her she is in a suicide pact to hang herself with someone named Li Dao who claims to be a nurse in Minnesota. Celia intervenes just hours before the young girl was set to kill herself. Celia would not learn about Li Dao's connection to Mark Drybrough's suicide until much later.

2007 Throughout 2007 Celia Blay posts warnings about this Minnesota nurse on various chat groups. She learns that this nurse uses the screen names “Li Dao,” “Falcongirl,” and “Cami D”. Celia begins to amass a number of stories, emails and chat logs from other people who were either contacted by this person or who were in a suicide pact with him/her. Celia contacts her local police, and later the West Midlands Police. Neither pursues the matter.

September 2007 Nadia Kajouji, an 18-year-old girl from Brampton Ontario, begins her studies at Carleton University in Ottawa Ontario.

November/December 2007 Nadia Kajouji takes the morning after pill but it unfortunately doesn’t work. She later suffers a miscarriage. Nadia’s grades start to slip and her roommates notice she is not acting like herself.

January 12, 2008 Celia Blay and a friend set up a “sting” to catch Cami D in the act of trying to form a suicide pact. Cami D falls for it, giving advice on how to hang oneself and requesting to watch the act by webcamera. Cami D sends a family photograph, and claiming to be the woman in the picture. In a stroke of luck, Cami D quickly passes by his web camera – a picture is taken and the photograph reveals a middle aged man, not a young female.

February 1, 2008 Frustrated with the lack of police interest in the UK, Celia Blay (with the help of a friend) writes up a very thorough affidavit and submits it to the FBI. It includes chats logs about suicide, the Minnesota home address linked to Melchert-Dinkel’s IP address, and the pictures Sarah Dove was able to grab off the webcam. Celia Blay never receives any response. Read the Celia's affadavit [PDF 187kb]

February 18, 2008 Back in Canada, Nadia Kajouji comes home to Brampton from University for Reading Week. Her parents notice that she is withdrawn and upset, but she doesn’t talk to them about what is bothering her. However, on an anonymous youtube channel, Nadia post video blogs that chronicle her deteriorating mental state and inability to sleep. Some time within the month, Nadia is put on anti-depressants. Nadia starts seeing a counselor and expresses her suicidal thoughts. She also makes a new friend on-line – “Cami D”.

March 6, 2008 Nadia Kajouji chats with about suicide and outlines her plan to take her life or ‘catch the bus’ as people in group often call it. Cami D repeatedly suggests Nadia hang herself via webcamera.

March 9, 2008 Nadia Kajouji chats again with Cami D. She then walks out of her university residence never to be seen alive again.

March 10, 2008 Nadia misses her 10:15am appointment with her counsellor. Music has been blaring in her room all night and her room mates call to have her door opened so they can turn it down.

March 12, 2008 Nadia’s parents learn their daughter is missing.

March 25, 2008 Unaware of Nadia Kajouji’s recent suicide and chats with Cami D, Celia Blay finally has a breakthrough with the Minnesota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. She begins emailing them all her files on William Melchert-Dinkel.

March 26, 2008 The Ottawa Police track down the home address in Minnesota that matches the IP address associated with Nadia’s on-line friend, Cami D. At the time of this discovery, they do not know of Celia Blay’s investigation and her contact with the Minnesota police. The Ottawa police later present the chats to Nadia’s parents, letting them know they believe Nadia committed suicide.

April 20, 2008 Nadia Kajouji’s body is found in Ottawa’s Rideau River.

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