A Tragedy That Won't Fade Away

California;

On Halloween in 2006, an eighteen year old girl was involved in a car accident that resulted in her death. This story is the family's battle to get all pictures of the accident off the internet. The picture of Nikki Catsouras is so gruesome that Newsweek refused to print it. There are nine pictures circulating on the internet. In one, her nearly decapitated head is drooping out the shattered window of her father's Porsche. Days after the accident, her father received an e-mail that contained a picture of her daughter's bloodied face, captioned with the words "Woohoo Daddy! Hey daddy, I'm still alive." Nikki's three sisters have not yet seen the pictures, but are fearful they one day might. The Catsourases are spending thousands in legal fees in an attempt to stop strangers from displaying the gruesome pictures. Nothing worked though. The family has no legal basis to compel Web sites to remove the photos, and no amount of programming magic could keep them from spreading to new sites. Two sisters became homeschooled to avoid the rumors at school. They are not allowed to have My Spaces, exc. The whole family is now in therapy and they've taken out a second mortgage to cover the costs of their legal battle.

I am disgusted at the thought that people would want the pictures going around. I have seen the picture of Nikki because of the story's popularity, and it made me sick. It is horribily graphic and I can't imagine the family having to know people everywhere are looking at it. I am completly on their side. There is no reason why the family shouldn't get their wish of having the pictures taken off the internet. The person who sent the dad the email is a monster. No grieving family deserves something that horrible.