Death of Kentucky teen sparks investigation into possible sextortion scheme

Eli Heacock was like many 16-year-olds.

The Glasgow, Kentucky, teenager enjoyed playing tennis, telling "dad jokes" and spending time with his father, who his mom said was "his best friend."

"He was our tornado. He kept us on our toes all the time," said his mother, Shannon Heacock.

But everything changed in an instant after Eli Heacock died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Feb. 28, his mom told ABC News.

Since his death, his mom said local and federal investigators have said they believe Eli Heacock may have been targeted in an alleged sextortion scheme.

"Eli was on a good track. We had no reason to believe there was an issue at all. We knew nothing about sextortion or how it works," Eli Heacock's father, John Burnett, told ABC News.

Sextortion is a term "used to describe a crime in which an offender coerces a minor to create and send sexually explicit images or video," according to the FBI. Once the offender receives the explicit content from the child, they then threaten to release the compromising content "unless the victim produces additional explicit material," the FBI said on its website.

One type of sextortion is "financially motivated sextortion," which follows a similar pattern, but is motivated by the goal of financial gain, not sexual gratification, the FBI said. After receiving explicit material, the offender will threaten to release the content unless a payment is made, the FBI said.

Financial sextortion has resulted "in an alarming number of deaths by suicide," the FBI said on its website.

But, the explicit pictures do not need to be taken by the child to qualify as sextortion, Burnett said. In his son's case, he said the offender made AI-generated images of Eli Heacock, sent them to the teenager and demanded $3,000 or else the pictures would be released or his family would be harmed.

"Their intention was to convince Eli their sincerity that they could, in fact, harm him or someone he loved with pictures that they generated," Burnett told ABC News.

His mother said she regularly checked her son's phone, but the interaction occurred during the night and the situation must have "put him in panic mode."

In the text messages she saw, her son sent a portion of money to the offender, to which the anonymous user replied, "This is not enough."

Eli Heacock's twin sister discovered her brother's body, ran to her parents and said "Eli was hurt," Shannon Heacock said.

The 16-year-old was rushed to the hospital, but succumbed to his injuries on Feb. 28, his mother said.

"How can your lives change that fast over merely $3,000 someone wanted off the internet from a kid? I play a lot of 'What if I did this? What if I did that?' We don't need anybody to add to our guilt because we carry it very heavily right now," Shannon Heacock told ABC News.

Upon arriving at the hospital, a local FBI detective reviewed Eli Heacock's phone, recognized it as a potential sextortion case and put the teenager's phone on airplane mode, his mother said.

The investigation into Eli Heacock's death is still in its beginning stages, his father said, with both local detectives and federal investigators reviewing the contents of the 16-year-old's phone.

The family has also been in contact with Rep. Steve Riley, a lawmaker in the Kentucky House of Representatives, who has championed a bill in the Kentucky legislature making sextortion a felony and establishing penalties for those convicted of the crime. The bill is now on its way to Gov. Andy Beshear to be signed into law, Shannon Heacock said.

The Heacocks are not the only family mourning the loss of a loved one after a sextortion scheme. In 2023 alone, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received 26,718 reports of financial sextortion -- up from 10,731 reports in 2022.

Shannon Heacock urges parents to check their children's phones at all times because, in her experience, "even the happiest child is hiding something."

"It's no longer to be scared of the white van that drives around, you have to be scared of the internet," Shannon Heacock said.

If you or someone you know are experiencing suicidal, substance use or other mental health crises please call or text 988. You will reach a trained crisis counselor for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also go to 988lifeline.org.