Description: 16-year-old Elijah Heacock of Glasgow, Kentucky, reportedly died by suicide on February 28, 2025, after receiving threatening messages containing purportedly AI-generated explicit images depicting him. The images were reportedly used in a sextortion attempt demanding money. The FBI has been investigating the case as part of an alleged pattern of online financial sextortion schemes targeting minors.
Entities
View all entitiesAlleged: Unknown deepfake technology developer developed an AI system deployed by Unknown sextortionists, which harmed Elijah Heacock , Family of Elijah Heacock and Minors targeted by online sextortion schemes.
Alleged implicated AI systems: Unknown deepfake technology , Social media platforms and Messaging service
Incident Stats
Incident ID
1078
Report Count
2
Incident Date
2025-02-27
Editors
Daniel Atherton
Incident Reports
Reports Timeline
Warning: The following story contains descriptions of sensitive topics such as mental health and suicide, and may be triggering for some readers. If you are struggling, please contact a mental health professional or crisis line such as 988 …
Elijah Heacock was a vibrant teen who made people smile. He "wasn't depressed, he wasn't sad, he wasn't angry," father John Burnett told CBS Saturday Morning.
But when Elijah received a threatening text with an A.I.-generated nude photo of…
Variants
A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
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