Bullied N.Y. teen dead in apparent suicide

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WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y., Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Several months before he died in an apparent suicide, an upstate New York teenager told other teens in an online video, "It gets better."

Jamey Rodemeyer, 14, of Williamsville, died Sunday, The Buffalo News reported.

He made two posts on his Tumblr blog a few hours before his body was found outside the family home, one saying he hoped to see his great-grandmother and the other thanking his favorite singer, Lady Gaga.

A week earlier, he had posted a message about National Suicide Prevention week.

His parents, who met Monday with some of his friends at Williamsville North Middle School, say he was seeing a therapist and a social worker. They said Jamey appeared to have come to terms with online bullying that became worse after he publicly said he was unsure of his sexual orientation.

"Of course, I'm not going to say enough was done," his mother, Tracy Rodemeyer, said.

Olivia Rinaldo, an eighth-grade student at Heim Middle School, said Jamey always reached out to others.

"He was always putting people first," she said. "He always wanted other people to smile, even on the worst of his days."