Timeline of events in the Megan Meier Internet suicide case:

September 2006: 13-year-old Megan Meier of Dardenne Prairie, Mo., begins communicating online on the MySpace social network with “Josh Evans,” who she thinks is a good-looking boy living in her area.

Oct. 15, 2006, she receives a message from Josh, saying he doesn’t want to be her friend anymore.

Oct. 16, 2006: Megan receives cruel messages through MySpace, including one from “Josh,” allegedly telling her the world would be a better place without her. Megan runs upstairs. About 20 minutes later, Megan’s mother finds her daughter has hanged herself in her closet.

Oct. 17, 2006: Megan dies at a hospital, a few weeks before her 14th birthday.

Fall 2006: Megan’s parents learn from a neighbor that Josh was the creation of another neighbor, Lori Drew, her teenage employee Ashley Grills, and Drew’s teenage daughter, a former friend of Megan. They are told the MySpace profile was created to see what Megan was saying about Drew’s daughter online. Drew, through her attorney, later disputes she helped create the site or knew of mean messages prior to Megan’s death.

Fall 2007: Media accounts of Megan’s suicide fuel public outrage in the case.

Dec. 3, 2007: St. Charles County, Mo., prosecutor Jack Banas says he reviewed laws related to stalking, harassment and child endangerment and couldn’t find statutes allowing him to file charges.

May 15, 2008: A Los Angeles federal grand jury indicts Lori Drew for her alleged role in the MySpace hoax, charging her with one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization.