arrow in the top righthand corner of their pages reveals a settings option that opens a page where privacy adjustments can be made. But it didn’t matter what steps Dave took to block the intruder, she always found a way around it. His stalker was ever present. She knew things about him that she should have had no way of knowing. She managed to see and hear so much, yet she was never seen or heard.
When Jessica became Facebook friends with Dave, she was stunned to realize she’d also made a Facebook enemy. On Friday, May 10, at 4:39 P.M., Jessica received a startling Facebook message. It appeared to be from a woman named C. Lea Farver, and it got right to the insulting point. So, you must be Dave’s new whore. He has herpes from the whore he was dating. I would watch out for him, the message began, and continued on, sprinkled with crude words and threats. “C. Lea” vowed to find Jessica and vandalize her car as she had “the other whore’s car.”
Jessica asked Dave about “C. Lea Farver.” It wasn’t his first choice of topics when he was just getting to know an attractive woman, but he told her about the crazy person who’d been making his life miserable for the last six months.
What about the claim Dave had herpes? He had not been diagnosed with herpes, a contagious virus plaguing up to sixty-five percent of American adults, though many are unaware they carry it because they’ve never had a blistering outbreak. Most have the less-severe strain that commonly appears on the mouth and is referred to as cold sores, but one in six adults are infected with the severe strain, usually contracted through sexual contact and found on both the mouth and genitals.
It was obvious to Jessica that “C. Lea Farver” was so obsessed with Dave she’d say whatever it took to scare away the competition, even if it meant lying about a sexually transmitted disease. Jessica tried to shrug off the hostile message, but another arrived two hours later: So, whore, I’ll keep messaging you. He has been with me for five months. I will run off any woman who tries to be with him. He is sleeping with three people I know, and I got rid of one whore.
At 9:42 P.M., the next message hit her like a fist in the gut. Guess you’re not learning by what I’m telling you, it began, followed by profanities before delivering the threat: I will come kill you and your fucking kids. I have killed a dog owned by Dave’s last whore he tried to be with . . .
Jessica was shaken. It was bad enough that she was a target, but when her kids were included in the threat, it both frightened and angered the young mother. Had this person really killed a pet? Jessica had refused her tormentor’s friend request and blocked her, but that didn’t help. The stalker had created many Facebook accounts, most in some variation of Cari Farver’s name, and she continued her attack.
At 11:53 P.M. another message began by noting that Jessica had failed to cut ties with Dave. The bully knew that she and Dave were still Facebook friends. When Jessica read the next line, she felt sick.
I will cut your kids’ throats and yours while you sleep.
The thought of someone hurting her sons, Benjamin, age eight, and Christopher, two, was more than she could stand. At 8:29 the next morning, the next threat contained no profanities but was every bit as chilling.
I know where you live. I will be coming for you and your son.
The message at 10:47 A.M. was brief and to the point: I will kill your whole family. Two hours later, the stalker’s message was chatty: You divorced now? Or do I tell your husband you’re messing with someone else’s man? See that picture of the car? I did that to another whore who wouldn’t leave Dave alone. A photograph of a vandalized car was attached to the message. While Jessica certainly didn’t want her car damaged, threats to her vehicle were far less disturbing than threats to her children.
The stalker tried every angle she could think of to hit a nerve. She’d tried scaring her with the herpes lie, threatened her car, and then her children. Now, she’d gone back to the vandalism threats and was hinting she’d tell Jessica’s estranged husband she was cheating on him. Jessica was free to date, but she