Bullying Believed to be Cause of Teenager Suicide - KGWN –Cheyenne, WY– Scottsbluff, NE News,Weather, Sports

Bullying Believed to be Cause of Teenager Suicide

A massive search, a body found and answers still unclear about the suicide of a 13-year old Cheyenne teenager.

Chief of Police Brian Kozak says a lot of people have asked for details of the death but out of respect to the family they will not be providing those details.

The real answers that need to be found is why would someone so young do this and how can we stop it from happening to more children.

Alexander Frye's step-sister had some very strong feelings about what drove Alex to take his own life.

"My heart says bullying. He got bullied at school quite a bit with some of his friends from the same people. My thinking is that he was afraid of school and that's what caused him to do what he did," said Lauren Bard, step-sister of Alex.

Lauren says Alex was an easy target for bullies because he was sweet, quiet and shy. She had heard some stories about Alex getting bullied but didn't realize how bad it was.

"Once I started hearing from some of his school friends that he had been punched. That he had been punched in class and the teacher turned a blind eye to it then I realized that it had gotten bad, but I never thought it would go to this," Bard said.

Bullying is far to common in schools today. According to bullyingstatistics.org one in seven kids in grades K-12 is either a bully or has been a victim of bullying. Parents and teachers need to realize what lengths kids will go to get away from it.

"I just want people to know that they can talk to their kids, talk to their children and let them know that they're there for them and that any action will be taken to save them from the bullying," Bard said.

The past few days have been exhausting for Lauren and her family, but she says the support they've received has blown her mind.

"It means a lot to me and I'd like to thank everybody that helped and from the bottom of my families heart, thank you so much," Bard said.

Lauren and her mother, Kae, will be joining a support group called bullyinghurts.com as well as trying to talk to schools and promote anti-bullying to as many parents and children as they can.

A memorial service for Alex Frye will be held on Saturday at Schrader Funeral Home here in Cheyenne.

A time has not been set yet.