Randall Nash Hartdegen

Originally Posted by Craig Wyatt

I'm sincerely sorry for your loss. I would loose my mind if this happened to me. Many times men appear to be strong on the surface but are badly hurting on the inside. Some think it's a sign of weakness to reach out or just even talk to a friend. As humans many of us are good at bottling up everything inside.
Again I'm very very sorry for your loss.

Thank you Craig, I appreciate that. It was devastating, even worse he did it knowing our boys (5 & 8 at the time) would find him first.
I wish my husband had said something/anything to ANYONE that he was even contemplating it so that we could have attempted to help him. So I believe the fact that the subject of this thread has made a very clear cry out, means he needs help. Whether he means it or is just trying to manipulate people emotionally, I can't say- but either way he definitely needs help & I'm glad this thread was posted so that those close to him can act.

I do believe this warning was valid, given the lies / exaggerations this young man has made very public, from his age, to his education to his "research", to his ownership of certain animals which I find hard to believe he actually owns ... and more. Yes, people should be aware and wary before actually donating to a cause that may or may not be legit. I personally would steer clear.

However, where the mental health and suicide is concerned ... NO, there are no fast and hard "rules". Having experienced 4 suicides in my life of family members and close friends, there often are indicators and as often not. My brother gave no clue. My aunt gave no clue. They were both pretty much unexpected shocks.

My next door neighbor and best friend did send huge clues. I called her parents and they came 300 miles to get her back home for help. Two weeks later she snuck away from her parents home and returned, in the middle of the night, unbeknownst to me, her other friends, her ex or her fiance. I found her body the next day when the neighbor on the other side called me and said there was exhaust coming from Brenda's garage. (Her parents had given me the keys to her house to care for her little dog, Teddy, and houseplants.) I called the police, dealt with hours of interrogation and had to break the news to her fiancé when he called me when she did not answer her phone.

My next door neighbor when I lived in CHI gave no clue, but yep, same thing ... happy as a lark for a year. Happy as a lark that day when we both left for work. Not so much the next.

So, no ... there are no "rules". Yes, some people use it for attention (and I have another friend who did, so I ran to her side in the middle of the night and she was just drunk with all her family members right here ... she was just bored and terribly drunk, I guess).

One simply just cannot make rash judgments regarding another's mental health or possible intentions. We all already know he has lied about so many things that his credibility is shot anyway.

Let the psychological analysis go, folks ... just hope he sees the error of his ways and gets whatever help he needs.

Sierra and Laura, my condolences on the sad losses you have experienced with from the suicide of others.

Why is this thread still on the BOI? Shouldn't this be moved to a more appropriate section of the website like all other threads that have diverged from their original intention?

Originally Posted by Phil Bradley

Why is this thread still on the BOI? Shouldn't this be moved to a more appropriate section of the website like all other threads that have diverged from their original intention?

Because it's still an inquiry. Usually when they go off topic, the mods will give out warnings. The original intent of the post is still important and it still names a person.

Originally Posted by Kristi23

Because it's still an inquiry.

Exactly.
If a thread was always moved because of subsequent divergence, anyone who wanted a particular thread off the BOI could engineer that.