Sydney Dane Sellers: Girl, 14, Hanged Herself While Texting Men About Auto-Erotic Asphyxiation

A 14-year-old girl, Sydney Dane Sellers, was found hanging in her Pell City, Alabama, home last December. The death was a complete shock to her parents, Jennifer and Ronnie Sellers, as their daughter was doing well in school, had a nice boyfriend and never complained to them about bullying or depression. However, the family soon learned that their daughter was struggling with issues that they could never have imagined. After charging her daughter’s iPhone, Sydney’s mother curiously turned it on to see what the teen had been doing prior to her suicide. What she found was startling. Her 14-year-old daughter had been speaking to “strange men” about auto-erotic asphyxiation via the messaging app Kik at the time of her death.

The Daily Mail reports that Sydney Dane Sellers was by all accounts a healthy and happy teen. Sydney’s parents say their daughter was a top student at her school, an altar server at her Catholic church, and had never given them the impression anything was wrong. However, after their daughter’s death, the family learned that the teen had been leading a double life. From cutting herself to having sexual conversations with multiple men, the Sellers discovered that their daughter had a secret online life.

“Whatever she, and these people, were doing online, it literally had no effect on her daily life. It didn’t affect her school performance, it didn’t alter her relationship with her boyfriend, and it didn’t affect her relationship with us. It was just a big secret that she did in the middle of the night.”

In fact, Al.com reports that, on the day of Sydney’s death, she had just celebrated her boyfriend’s birthday with his family and then spent the day with her parents. The teen’s parents recounted that they went to church, had lunch, and then enjoyed an afternoon of laughing, joking, and watching TV. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and the family described the day as “wonderful.” After a full day, Ronnie Sellers went to take a nap and Jennifer began preparing one of Sydney’s favorite meals in the kitchen.

“She came trotting out of her room, and she was bouncing around laughing and having a great time. She headed to the kitchen, and I was like, ‘What are you doing?’ She said she wanted some pizza rolls and I was like ‘No, no, I’m fixing your favorite supper,’ so she bounced back into her room. I said, ‘I love you baby. I’ll come get you in about 20 minutes when supper’s ready,’ and she said OK and shut the door.”

That would be the last time that Jennifer would be able to speak to her daughter alive. After dinner was ready, Mrs. Sellers went to retrieve her daughter from her room. What she found was a parent’s worst nightmare. Her daughter was hanging next to her bed. Jennifer says she couldn’t lift the teen up enough to get her down so immediately began screaming for her husband. The pair got her daughter to the ground and Ronnie, who retired from the Army, began CPR. Sadly, it was too late. The promising young teen had died.

A month after her daughter’s death, Jennifer requested that the teen’s iPhone be returned so that she could retrieve some of her pictures. She charged the phone and when it finally turned on again, Jennifer was shocked. The last app opened on the phone was the messaging app Kik and Sydney was using it to speak with “strange men” about sexual fantasies, including auto-erotic asphyxiation. In fact, at the time of her death the teen was speaking with a man about sexual arousal via strangulation, suffocation, and hanging. Jennifer now wonders if her daughter’s death was an accident and a result of the conversation.

“Either way, she is gone, and in a really bad way.”

In addition to learning about the erotic discussions on her phone, the Sellers also found out that the teen had been bullied pretty severely at school. They also learned that their daughter had been cutting herself. As the coroner was preparing Sydney’s body for viewing, an outfit that was knee-length or longer was requested as there were cut marks on the girl’s thighs and stomach. Yet again, the Sellers were shocked to learn that their daughter had been dealing with these issues without expressing a hint of disturbance to her family.

Now the Sellers family is speaking out to encourage other parents to delve deeper into their children’s lives and to restrict their privacy. Do you think teen’s are being given too much privacy in personal matters regarding their online presence, social media and texting?

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