COLUMBUS, Ohio — Three seniors at Olentangy High School are making it a mission to leave their school and the surrounding community feeling united following the death of a fellow student, Braden Markus, in 2021.
“Braden was kind of friends with everybody,” said Emma Lear, a senior at Olentangy High School in Lewis Center. “He was just one of those kids who was very out there you know, friends with kids from other schools.”
In 2021, Braden took his own life after he got caught up in a sextortion scam. The FBI calls the crime a global crisis.
Victims of sextortion scams are often threatened that their sexually explicit images will be publicly shared unless they pay, or perform sexual favors, to avoid it. Investigators with the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office believe Braden fell victim to a scammer who relentlessly targeted him.
Emma, along with two other seniors, Lauren Hoffman and Anushka Maharana, chose the Braden Markus Scholarship Fund as a way to honor him. The seniors are part of Olentangy High School’s DECA marketing program and felt the fund could better spread awareness about social media dangers and mental health.
“We decided as a group that we collectively wanted to be able to give back to his family and I guess just the Olentangy community as a whole,” Lear said.
The first kickoff event was the week of Aug. 22, which happened to be the same jersey number Braden wore when he played football for the school.
“We basically celebrated the life of Braden at that game, and I saw something that I have never seen,” Lauren said. “Everybody’s coming under one name and just to hear the cheers in the stands and seeing everybody wear blue and unite under one color, just for one specific person, it was truly a magical night.
Other events included a powder puff game, a basketball match up, a pep rally and a vigil that fell on Braden’s birthday in January.
Through it all, the girls said they witnessed a change in how people treated each other.
“The way the community supports each other now, and the different schools support each other now, it’s just something we’ve never seen before,” Lear said.
Anushka shared a similar sentiment about how Braden’s death has shown the Olentangy community that people care for each other more than they know.
“Before, I don’t think I that if I were in that situation, I would know who to reach out to or even what to do,” Maharana told 10TV’s Angela An. “I also think at Olentangy, we’re very competitive, especially in academics. And from my freshman year to now, I really noticed that change of like – oh, it’s not just about school, it’s not just about the clubs that you do. It’s about the people that you’re in classes with and the people that you talk to every day and keeping each other safe more than anything else.”
Visit the Braden Markus Memorial Page and to stay up to date on how his family and friends continue to honor his memory.
Mental health resources
If you or someone you know is in a crisis or having thoughts of suicide, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. The lifeline can also be reached at its former number 1-800-273-8255 or online at 988lifeline.org. You can also text HELLO to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line. A comprehensive list of suicide prevention resources can be found on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) website.
Preventing catfishing and sextortion scams
- Authorities say there are four steps parents should take to hopefully prevent a catfisher from infiltrating their lives:
- Have a conversation with your kids. Communicate with them about the dangers of online crimes.
- Get their passwords. It is not an invasion of privacy when it comes to your child’s safety.
- Understand the apps. Many icons might be cover-ups for private chat rooms.
- Go through your child’s friends list. Ask about each person so you are more familiar.
Additional resources:
- Read the FBI warning related to sextortion.
- Sextortion warning signs from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children