Family and friends say goodbye to teenagers killed in accident through social networks

An 18-year-old St. Augustine woman and a 19-year-old Jacksonville man were killed in an accident late Sunday evening.

Megan Elizabeth Bunn and Michael Jason Linder were killed in a collision on U.S. 1 near The Avenues Mall when an ambulance turned in front of the truck that Linder was driving. The accident occurred at about 8:20 p.m. Sunday.

Bunn was pronounced dead on arrival at Shands Jacksonville after being flown via life-flight from the scene of the accident.

Linder was pronounced dead at 9:20 p.m. Monday, a day after the accident. Three other passengers of the truck were hospitalized.

Shyenne Morgan, 17, is in serious condition at Shands Jacksonville; Cameron Waddington, 18, is in serious condition at Baptist Downtown; and Jonathan Rasnik, 28, was treated at St. Luke’s Hospital.

According to Florida Highway Patrol, no one in the truck driven by Linder was wearing a seatbelt.

Brian Gray, 25, the driver of the ambulance is in serious condition. Ambulance passenger Julie Raymer, 44, is in stable condition.

The accident remains under investigation. Meanwhile, friends and families of the deceased are in shock.

“She hugged everybody and kissed everybody goodbye, even our neighbors. That’s something she hadn’t done before,” said Ginny Carter, Bunn’s aunt. “I think everybody is in shock and saddened and her life ended when she was so young.”

A Facebook group has formed on the popular social networking site memorializing the teens. “Rest In Peace Michael Jason Linder & Megan Elizabeth Bunn” is the group where friends of the teens are paying their respects.

“Michael Jason Linder I love you and I miss you so much!!! You were one of my best friends!!! You always knew how to put a smile on my face,” wrote Doree Harbin, a member of the Facebook group. “You have a permanent place in my heart.”

A friend of Bunn posted a message on the message of board of Bunn’s MySpace profile.

“I’ve been crying so much the tears sting my eyes,” wrote the poster. “I can’t believe this you’re too awesome for this to happen Megan. I couldn’t sleep last night I just kept picturing you laugh because that’s all I ever saw you do when we hung out.”

Bunn describes herself on her MySpace as loving life, music, and the sound of rain.

“You’ve got to love life to have life,” wrote Bunn on her MySpace profile. “You’ve got to have life to love life.”

The group on Facebook and the live MySpace page of Bunn raise questions about the digital trail we leave after death. Different social networking sites have different content-ownership policies; therefore families may not be able to remove the content of a deceased loved one.

Facebook does not delete content and instead creates a web-memorial for deceased members.

“To reflect the reality [of death], we created the idea of 'memorialized' profiles as a place where people can save and share their memories of those who've passed," said Facebook's Max Kelly.

According to Facebook, in order to "memorialize" a profile, members are encouraged to report a deceased person's profile. Facebook then removes "sensitive" information, like phone numbers and the profile is locked up to anyone who was not already a confirmed friend. Those friends can then continue to leave messages on the “walls” in memory of the deceased.

Whether or not Facebook or MySpace will memorialize Bunn or Linder’s social network remains to be seen. In the meantime, friends and family of the teenagers will express their grief, feelings and remorse for all to see.