The Blue Whale Challenge is a twisted game circling the Internet in a bid to drive teens to suicide. At least one has already fallen prey.
The haunting online addiction requires participating teens to complete 50 increasingly terrifying challenges over the course of 50 days.
The final task? That the player commit suicide.
A Texas teen, Isaiah Gonzalez, hanged himself as a direct result of partaking in the ghoulish online game, according to his grieving family.
His father, Jorge Gonzalez, wants to urge parents to monitor their kids" social media use after Isaiah was found dead in chilling fashion.
The younger Gonzalez was discovered hanging in his bedroom closet Saturday with his phone propped up on a shoe to record his death.
A report on the young man"s death from the San Antonio Police Department does not mention the Blue Whale Challenge. However:
But Gonzalez"s family said in the days after the teen died, they pieced it together from his social media and communication with friends.
His sister, Alexis, said that a person behind the challenge had gathered personal info from Isaiah and had threatened to harm the family.
Nevertheless, parents and other authorities are skeptical that the game actually exists, citing a lack of suicides directly attributed to it.
Agent Michelle Lee of the FBI"s San Antonio office said the agency is not involved, but urged parents to monitor children"s online activities.
"It"s a reminder of one of the many dangers and vulnerabilities that children face using various social media and apps online every day," Lee said.
"Parents must remain vigilant."
Jorge Gonzalez is the second parent this week to tell news outlets about a child who died by suicide allegedly as a result of the game.
A Georgia woman, who asked not to be named, spoke Monday to CNN about her 16-year-old girl killing herself in the Blue Whale Challenge.
Until this week, there had been no allegations about a U.S. death directly linked to the game, despite its rumored existence for months.
Suicides in Russia, Brazil and a half dozen other countries were reportedly linked to the challenge in cases of suicides of young people.
Notes have been posted on school district social media pages and sent home to parents in districts across the U.S., according to reports.
So how does it work? Parents believe that teens reach out to game administrators called curators through various social media platforms.
Those curators lead players through 50 days of challenges which may begin in relatively benign fashion, like watching scary movie clips.
However, they progress to cutting symbols into their arms and legs or taking pictures of themselves in incredibly dangerous positions.
The participants are allegedly required to document the completion of the task before they are directed to end their lives on the 50th day.
Horrifyingly, a search of related hashtags on Instagram shows users posting pictures of scars and cuts or memes that depict suicide.
Instagram warns that images tagged under related phrases could be harmful and directs people searching for them to seek help (above).
The Center for Missing and Exploited Children is aware of the challenge and encourages parents to report it and similar activity ASAP.
Even if people don"t have enough information of evidence to go to the police or FBI, there are still resources to help, the group urges.
Please, if you know of anyone participating or encouraging this sick activity, contact everyone in your power to make it stop immediately.
