What The Hell Happened To Meghan Runkle?
November 21, 2008 by impqueen
This article was written and submitted by our member Ladyeridan – thanks, and welcome to the front page!
http://www.myspace.com/starry_eyes_hates_you
Jacksonville, FL – On November 5th, two men were hiking in Jennings State Forest, a patch of land near the Clay/Duval county border. They were originally scouting out hunting spots, but they found more than they bargained for. About two miles in from Normandy Road, near the Cecil air field, they spotted circling buzzards. As they got closer, they saw what the buzzards had found. The nude body of a woman was lying in a ditch in just a few inches of water, near a bike path. They called the police, and the area was quickly turned into a crime scene.
A week later, on NovemberNovember reviews
12th, the body was identified as 17-year-old Meghan Runkle, who had been living with some friends in Jacksonville. She would have been 18 just two days later. Police for Duval County are investigating this as a homicide at this time, saying the death is ’suspicious’, but not elaborating.
In an odd parallel, Meghan’s younger brother Jonathan Hackett died in care at Children’s Hospital on November 2nd.   He would have been 15 just a few days later, on the 6th. Meghan never knew her brother died, nor did he know she was gone. She had only recently reestablished contact with her family in Pennsylvania, keeping in touch with her stepmother (Jonathan’s mother, Rebecca Jaegacks) through MyspaceMySpace
. Her last login was on OctoberOctober reviews 2nd, though… and it’s possible that she had been dead since then. When her remains were found she was in such an advanced state of decomposition, it was impossible to pinpoint her time, or even date of death.
It is supremely difficult for me, as a mother, to imagine what could have happened to Meghan Runkle. I can’t help but look at it from a mother’s perspective. What if it had been my daughter in that drainage ditch? How would I be able to pick up and go on, having lost a son and a daughter so close together?
Here’s where I lose it, though. Where were the adults in her life? You have a 17 year old girl, in Florida, whose Myspace shows her having gone to school in California, whose family seems to all be in New York and Pennsylvania. There are no anchors, nothing that seems permanent. She drifted too far, and ended up in a drainage ditch, and they still don’t know how, why, or even WHEN.
That same Myspace shows pictures of a very pretty girl, in that spot midway between beautiful child and striking adult, trying to find an identity. The few blogs are dramatic in the way only a 17 year old who wants to be loved can be dramatic. Romeo and Juliet style poetry, ’stand by your friends’ stuff… all the things a 15-16-17 year old writes.
I hope Meghan has some measure of peace now that she was unable to find in life.
8:32 am on November 21st, 2008
Welcome to the front page, Ladyeridan! Great writeup
I really do not get how it’s possible for this kid to go missing for weeks and nobody notice. Somebody in that family knows exactly what happened to Meghan.
8:50 am on November 21st, 2008
Could they be any more vague? This is certainly a strange story…I’d love to see a conclusion and justice for Meghan.
Are there any reports as to why the younger brother died?
Great write-up LadyE!
9:11 am on November 21st, 2008
I think it might be worth it to know who the “Wolfey” in her “WolfeysWifey69″ screen name might be. Also, she had a stump account on Xanga:
http://profile.xanga.com/Sexxxy_Juggalette
And another here:
http://myjuggalospace.com/beautiful_disaster_juggal
She definitely had an ICP thing going on.
9:47 am on November 21st, 2008
this is such a tragedy.
it took just too long to find tha poor girl and now there are just no answers as to what happened to such a pretty girl…
i hope we get more news on her && her brother. her myspace is so sad.. i wonder how her love in california is dealing
10:00 am on November 21st, 2008
Holy Talking Jesus!
A strange tale indeed, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
…
And people say hunting is bad…once again alert hunters stumble on a crime that no one even knew had been commited!
10:24 am on November 21st, 2008
10:30 am on November 21st, 2008
See, yeah, there’s a problem here. I don’t think she had any family in FL. I got the feeling from a comment i found on another story, googling this one, that she’d been estranged from her family, and had recently gotten in touch. I can find her STEPFAMILY out there in the ether but i can find ONE reference to her mother, whose name is Donna (no last name) and not a single reference to her father, other than being ‘indisposed’ which to ME, means his ass is in prison.
So I’m thinkign her ‘friends’ in florida know what’s gone on, but her family… not so much.
10:44 am on November 21st, 2008
Great writeup, Ladyeridan! This story has been bothering me, and I’m really glad she’s on the front page.
What disturbs me is that no one reported her missing. Even if she was living/working in Florida away from family, someone must have known her, right? Didn’t she have friends? Roommates? Coworkers? Anyone who would normally see her on a regular basis and notice that she wasn’t there anymore? If not, I find that tragic.
I hope Meghan’s death gets some attention, and the police are able to find out what happened to her and who is responsible.
11:37 am on November 21st, 2008
Video added. Sorry for the delay, my craptacular Verizon Wireless connection keeps resetting this morning.
11:39 am on November 21st, 2008
Awesome work, Ladyeridan! Like Ruby, this case has nagged at me since I first read about it. The family situation is puzzling–where are her blood relatives? Why is her “closest” relative a stepmother who is supposedly engaged to someone not her father (according to a comment on a news story made by someone claiming to be the stepmother’s beau–who also said that a missing person report was filed)?
I feel like I’ve become some sort of nutty MySpace critic since I started hanging at the Demon, and perusing Meghan’s and her friends’ profiles bothered me, too. In her blogs, she refers to cutting herself and past thoughts of suicide, which makes me wonder what exactly her life had been like. And not a single one of her friends has changed their MySpace “title” to read “RIP Meghan Runkle.” The profile of the stepmother’s boyfriend doesn’t even mention her–living or dead. That just breaks my heart.
11:42 am on November 21st, 2008
What a sad, tragic, confusing story. Hope we can get some kind of ending out of this.
12:12 pm on November 21st, 2008
How tragic. She was a beautiful young lady with her whole life ahead of her. I can only imagine she had some kind of fucked up upbringing. Thank God she had that step-mother to connect with, but such a shame no one cared enough to keep track of her. Her older pics on myspace remind me so much of my own 13 y/o daughter. Poor, sweet, kid.
12:57 pm on November 21st, 2008
She also has a profile on Netlog: http://en.netlog.com/beautiful_disaster420
5:23 pm on November 21st, 2008
It seems that some have left messages on her myspace now and I saw one that had RIP Meghan. What got to me was the “count down” to her birthday and now it says 7 days, etc. ((since)) my birthday……
5:56 pm on November 21st, 2008
Cassiemomma,
That’s the same thing that got to me watching her counter since her birthday.. after watching it click off seconds for a few moments, I wondered how long it will keep on counting days since her birthday and I just burst into tears. I dont know why certain things hit me like that.
9:09 pm on November 21st, 2008
I just want to comment because I see this written a lot. When you have a child who decides to “run”, there is not a lot you can do about it.
Our 16 yr old son decided to be a runner this past summer. He had never done anything like that before. When he realized there was not much we could do about it, he just kept doing it. We did take his car, so he was not able to get far. I know he was staying places within our town, but I wasn’t sure where. He was never where we looked when we were looking for him. The police would not do anything because he wasn’t committing a crime. You cannot force a kid to stay home if they choose to go.
We had taken pretty much everything from him: his car, cell phone, computer, stereo, even a bunch of his clothes. I think he got to the point that he had nothing left to lose, so why not live it up.
I know, a long comment, but just to make people see the other side. This adult was at home spending a lot of time crying in my son’s room hoping that he would come home and be with his family.
I feel sad that her life ended like that.
1:41 am on November 22nd, 2008
I most certinlly would never wanna be a victom of a crime but is it just me or do you get the feeling that right now at least the last place in the world you would ever want something to happen to anyone is in florida in and around Orlando and Jacksonville .With all of the news attention that miss casey anthony has caused it almost seems as though thats the only crime in that part of the world or it sure feels that way …anywhere else this pretty young girl may be front page news and may get a 100% effort by the police to solve her case unfortunentlly where she is located ,for right now anyways i dont think she will get that sort of attention .Peronally i feel really sorry for her she certinally was a beautiful young lady from what her picture looked like i hope omeone gets some awnsers…
7:40 am on November 22nd, 2008
Okay… is anyone else having mixed feelings on commenting?… as in, ‘if you have nothing nice to say’….
the nicest way I can think of… first, 17 is pretty old. She is not like 12 or something. She was clearly making some life choices that may or may not have put her into some very dangerous situations. And for people calling her ’sweet,’ I don’t know any sweet teenagers posting pictures of themselves licking knives and talking about their love of sex and drugs….. I’m just saying. I was a naughty teenager too, I get it, but I also know that my actions put me into danger plenty of times.
God I already feel bad writing this. I am not trying to say that she deserved this or anything. I would just really reconsider before everyone starts blaming the family. Sometimes, really nice good parents just have a wild child. It happens. It’s not a rule that bad teenager = bad parents, you know?
I hope that this mystery is solved and all of her loved ones find some closure.
I do not understand how NO ONE reported her missing… if she wasn’t talking to her family, I could understand that… but surely she was living SOMEWHERE? she had friends? supposedly a fiance? jesus, I think I would take a closer look at those people.
10:59 am on November 22nd, 2008
Of course unruly delinquent teenagers aren’t necessarily the product of bad parents. This girl’s case however, not even knowing the story, seems tragic from the begining. The only person she has to come forward now is a past step-mother. The only picture of an adult she has on her myspace of family is of a grandmother from 17yrs ago. Whether by tragedy or personal fucked-upedness, her closest family is glaringly absent, and apparently has been for some time. If she was reconnecting with a former step-mother, perhaps she was reaching out. You just wish there had been more people in her life that she could reach out to.
6:16 pm on November 22nd, 2008
Sorry to hear that, Mom2three. My daughter pretty much did the same thing. It broke my heart like nothing ever had before.
I hope and pray, that Meghan Runkle, murder is caught and punished. She had allot of issues and was just coming out of them. And getting on with her life. Even spending time helping others like her. Its a shame her life was cut short, who knows what she would have moved onto and done with her life.
7:39 pm on November 22nd, 2008
I agree to a point. The harder we tried, the worse it became. And still is at 27 y.o. It’s his way of life. I love him to death, but I do not trust him, do not leave him alone in our house, all meds are in the safe when he’s in town, he is not allowed to drive our cars since we’re not even sure he has a license.
Ok, I’ll admit it. I looked up his driving record in his state. No license (except to and from work). Third DUI, blew a .017. He doesn’t know that we know. I’m assuming he spent some time in jail since he had to hire an attorney. The only reason I was even curious is that he was using his passport as ID versus drivers license. When asked, he said he lost his license; technically not a lie in his eyes. However, he did slip up last week and said he only has a couple more payments to his attorney. I didn’t ask. I found that if I DON”T ask, I learn much more information, like I already know, so he just keeps on talking. Because when you lie so much, you can’t keep it straight. So much easier just to tell the truth.
But there is still something bugging me about the bio parents, which I’m sure will come out eventually. I hope this family is truthful with LE. And has anything come out about why the son passed in hospital?
This whole think just reeks. This very pretty girl seems just so lost and trying to fit in somewhere.
Great first front page, m’lady.
1:13 am on November 23rd, 2008
danke, Stella, it’s one of those stories that just kind of sticks in my head. there is SO much that’s ‘off’ about all this. I mean, how often do kids check their Myspaces? I’m 36 and I check mine four of five times in a week. I know a number of kids I game with who check theirs that many times in a DAY. NOONE noticed she was missing, during all the time she was gone? and noone in this family other than a fiancee to a stepfather reached out to this kid?
The whole thing stinks, somehow, and I wish I could find more about it.
6:41 am on November 23rd, 2008
You’re right though.. god I am so curious what happened with her family. It’s just such a sad story. I bet it would feel awful to be her parents, and know that you, in some way, let your child go– and this is what happened to her. Not being a parent myself, I couldn’t even imagine how one must worry about their child.. and how to face having a daughter who wanted nothing to do with me? Of course, the daughter may have had very good reasons for this, but none of us know.
RIP Meghan Runkle. And I hope whoever did this to her is caught soon! So said, to have a life cut so short.
6:44 am on November 23rd, 2008
God, Stella, that must be SO tough on you. I couldn’t even imagine. Everyone wants the best for their children, but so much of it is out of their hands. It sounds like you are a very caring, and very intelligent parent. I wouldn’t feel odd about trying to check into your child’s records- I think it is best to know all that you can. It is better to know the truth, as hard as it may be, then to live oblivious or in denial. Good luck with your son! I wish the best for you! It sounds like you are doing a great job though.
10:46 am on November 23rd, 2008
FOund an interesting connection – her sister has a Bebo account – http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=3296887978 so now we have another last name to work with – Adler.
4:46 pm on November 23rd, 2008
What’s with the Dangerous Pirate gal? Her comment on the 8th seems a bit odd and her current mood is “nervous”…
5:26 pm on November 23rd, 2008
She must be a step sister because the ages are to close. There are 3 photos there. One of her and Meghan and the other 2 of her .
10:12 pm on November 23rd, 2008
There is a “Memorial” Myspace set up here:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=431085308
Interestingly enough —- it says this:
Meghan Elizabeth Mae Runkle she passed away on oct 29
Uh……. I distinctly remembered THIS from the article:
WTF???
10:51 pm on November 23rd, 2008
WTF indeed, Zibarro, Everything I was able to find, they couldn’t tell when she had died, just that it was sometime at least a week previous to when she was found. excellent catch, i swear i hope someone in law enforcement catches the same thing.
7:54 am on November 24th, 2008
I’m sure they just needed a date and picked one. It’s possible the family was give a date like “more than 5 days but less than 2 weeks”. While they cannot give an exact date, science is good enough to give a range.
11:19 am on November 24th, 2008
I think for me it’s the finality of it and your right when will it stop? It is very sad so I think it’s normal that you would get upset over it, I did
1:41 pm on November 24th, 2008
As an ex-runaway, let me explain that the parents are not to blame when their teenager goes bonkers and decides to split. I ran away from home (a lovely Leave-It-To-Beaver home), and went to CA. with a friend of mine who was being sexually abused by her dad. I was going whether she went or not, it was all my idea.
I was gone for over 2 months, my parents went crazy trying to find me. But truthfully, I was close to 18 years old, and if I hadn’t come home when I did, they probably would have stopped their search eventually. I don’t mean that they wouldn’t keep hoping and waiting for me to come home, but they did everything they could in that first month, and none of it worked. I literally droppped off the face of the earth. I paid cash for what we bought, we relied on the kindness of strangers, and we were lucky enough to not be raped or killed, but life on the road wore on us, and she actually decided being molested by her dad was better than trying to live on the streets being nasty and dirty. But there is a whole unconventional support system out there for runaways. They stick together, they help each other out, and unfortunately, they turn each other on to drugs and selling sex. We didn’t want that, so we went home.
More than likely, Megan was turning tricks, and got killed for doing it. I know what you guys are going to say… she’s too pretty, it’s her family’s fault, whatever. I’ve been there. If you are stuck somewhere cold and hungry and your dad’s evidently in jail, and mom’s not available, you are going to do what it takes to survive. Also, her step-brother may have had a terminal disease. Another reason to leave home if you happen to be the black-sheep of the family. Get out of the way and let them focus on him. As a teen you don’t realize that this makes things worse.
Sorry to ramble on, but this story brought back many memories for me.
12:24 am on December 2nd, 2008
I have read all the comments that have been left about Meghan and some of them just sicken me. So here I am writing this to answer some of the thoughts that you have about her.
Reesesmom couldn’t be farther from the truth. She was NOT turning tricks. She was a little confused and trying to get her life together. Yes, she loved ICP. She was a cutter a while ago. The last time she was on her Myspace account was 10-3-08. That was also the day that she left for Florida. If any of you had been through what she had in her short 17 years, you would be confused as well.
As for the boyfriend of the step-mom, he didn’t know her that well. He had a few short talks when she called her step-mom but that was it. She was gonna go to spend time with her brother Jon.
This is indeed a tradgedy and her family live with the loss everyday. Her step-mom was told that a missing person report was filed by her mother but we don’t know. The adler person thatis referred to as being her sister is not biologically her sister. Meghan has 2 sisters and 5 brothers. Her younger but oldest brother passed away in Pittsburgh Childrens under care. He fought a long hard fight and did not survive his life long illness. I have this right and I am gonna say this, I am glad that Jonathan is not here to see everything that is wrote about his lovely sister. She made mistakes in the past and he forgave her because he loved her. They both made plans and I’m sure they are hanging out in HEAVEN right now. Lets see what gets posted now. Maybe I have answered some of your questions or thoughts.
12:37 am on December 2nd, 2008
dragonsmom – Comments left by the members are not to be mean or hurtful. I’m sorry that you took them that way. I read them all back and didn’t see anything more than pure speculation. Most of all concern for a young, beautiful girl who was living a life that ultimately lead to her murder. Thanks for posting and bringing some light to ths situation.
RIP Meghan
12:38 am on December 2nd, 2008
Thank you, DragonsMom. I am so sorry that this young girl did not get a chance to live out her life. So young to be gone. As you say, at least she and her brother did not have to suffer the knowledge of each other’s deaths. I hope that you can find some comfort, though I know such a wish is just a gesture in face of what you are suffering. RIP both young people and may Meghan’s killer be brought to justice very soon.
2:12 am on December 2nd, 2008
Yeah, let’s see what gets posted here, shall we? Everything I’ve read about Jonathan suggests he knew full well, right up until the day that he died, that people LOVED him. They would do ANYTHING for him. Did Meghan know that? Was there any person in her life who would’ve traded places with her to wind up being the body in the standing water so she could go on to live up to her potential? Because I sure as fuck don’t see any indication of that. This isn’t an attack on the stepmother, who is the only one who seems to have shown caring for this girl. I don’t know who the fuck you are, but don’t come on here telling us about Jonathan–who does deserve EVERY tear of grief shed for the loss of his short life due to illness–when Meghan was murdered, her body lying alone, decomposing, undiscovered for days, and there’s no indication that the police have any idea who did this to her. I’m sorry, but it seems to me that if Jonathan were here, he would be more saddened by the fact that his lovely sister–and she was such a beautiful girl–has no one standing up for her, screaming for justice, demanding that her killer be found and brought before a court of law.
Dragonsmom, I am not angry at you. I am angry that Meghan is dead, that Meghan surely died horribly, and that with the exception of strangers such as those of on this site whose hearts break upon reading of the circumstances of her life and her demise, there really don’t seem to be many people who give a fuck. If you choose to return, please tell us about the real Meghan and the Meghan who could’ve been–if only someone hadn’t chosen to leave her naked and dead in a forested area far, far from home.
10:29 pm on December 2nd, 2008
I am sorry about the change in the screennames but the site would not allow me to sign in using the new password. I just added a number but it is still me. I was not trying to come off as being mean or trying to get Jonathan in this for him. It is just that he loved her like she grew up along side of him. It was a special unconditional love that someone would have for a special brother or sister.
Mentally she was older than her actual age. I remember her playing with her barbies and she would strip one down so that her baby brother could play too.(no choking hazzards for a 2 year old) She could get the boys to play the ken counter parts as long as they got the car. She had an infectious laugh that would reach out and grab you and would brighten your day so much that you just had to laugh. If you were having a dark and dreery bad day, she could always get you to smile. There were plenty days that I would call her, or wait to hear her voice because I always knew she would brighten it up.
She was a fighter for things that she believed in. I think it was bred into her genes cuz all the kids are like that. She loved animals and had a cat in CA named Kronik. I don’t know how she done it but she also had a pet rat.(yuck) But that was the type of person she was. She never hated anyone. She could forgive but she would never forget.
She was self taught on cosmetology and web design. She loved doing hair and make-up. She couldn’t wait to turn 18. She was gonna get a car and get a good job so she could travel on her vacations. She loved kids. She always babysat and was very good at it. She never had the chance to meet her 6 year old sister or to see how 2 of her brothers were growing up and 1 turning into a descent young man. She never had the chance to finish growing up and having a child of her own. She was just coming into her own way of thinking and breaking away from the “in” crowd. Her wish list from her myspace was part of the “in” crowd.
Meghan loved Tinkerbell. She had a blanket that she took wherever she went. She also had a necklace of Tinkerbell. I miss her very much. I keep expecting the phone to ring and her telling me about the things that she done that day. by the way, I told her that I loved her.
I only hope that she found the answers that she was looking for. She was in search for answers and that is why she went to Florida. I wish that she never would have gone to that state. I would have taken her place in that wooded area, I loved her that much. She coul’ve done anything with her life. She was very smart and had the looks.
I despise the person that done this horrific crime to her. I hope that she is at peace and that someone out there discovers the truth and the person responsible for her death gets what punishment they deserve. She deserves justice and I want that for her.
1:01 am on December 3rd, 2008
Dragonsmom – Sounds like she was a lovely young lady. I wish that they would find the thug(s) that did this to her. She deserves justice so that she can be at peace. *sigh*
2:41 am on December 3rd, 2008
Dragonsmom, thank you for posting again. My heart has been broken for Meghan since I first read about her, and in some ways, my heart is even more broken now that you have shared with us what she was like in life. It is even more horrible to me now that she has been taken away.
I offer my condolences to the family–I know how hard it must be that Jonathan is gone–but as I said before, there seems to be plenty of love…and grief…related to his life and his passing. I feel confident that he left this world surrounded by people he loved (or by people who loved him). Unfortunately, I also feel confident that Meghan left this world in a very different manner, a way that would have horrified Jonathan had he been here (and thank goodness he is not).
I don’t know what it is about Meghan that strikes me so personally, but something does. I am enraged at her senseless death. I am furious that she was left as she was, for so long, alone, her body slowly working its way toward becoming one with the soil on which she lay. I grieve that something drove her far from those who could protect her, and now she is gone forever.
And there’s not one fucking thing that my horror, my rage, my fury, or my grief can do to change it. I don’t believe in God, dragonsmom, but for Meghan’s sake, I wish I did.
11:11 am on December 3rd, 2008
Lizzard, you do not have to believe in God for Meghans sake. She always believed that there is a higher power but what that is she wasn’t sure. I do believe in God and also believe that people come into your life for certain reasons. I try to hang onto the fact that she had touched my life for a short time and that she taught me to love kids that are not mine by blood. She was a very unique person. I have alot of grief in my life right now and I hope that something is done about her crime.
If there is anything else I will be more than happy to keep posting. As I said before, she was unique and loved by this family.
9:39 pm on April 4th, 2009
That was true, I remember hanging out with her in Biology freshman year. She was odd, I’ll give you that, but that “odd-ness” made her beautiful. She was different and she was an amazing friend. Justice needs to be served, people deserve to know what really happened. Gah, I miss her so much. I miss you darling.
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