Lance Lundsten's Death Ruled Suicide Due to Mixed Drug Ingestion

ALEXANDRIA, Minn. (KSAX) -  The mystery surrounding the January death of Lance Lundsten, the Miltona teen whose controversial death sparked a conversation about teen suicide across the nation, has now been revealed by the Douglas County Medical Examiner.

Dr. Mark Spanbauer confirmed Monday, March 7, that the teen's manner of death was ruled suicide.  The toxicology report from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and MEDTOX, determined the cause of death to be a mixed drug ingestion, according to Spanbauer.

"It was a mixed drug ingestion and suicide was the manner of death," Spanbauer said.  READ MORE HERE...

Stop the Silence Op-Ed: Response to Bullying and Teen Suicide

by Kasandra Brown


Kasandra Brown is a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a student employee at the LGBT Campus Center.


I walked into a conversation this afternoon about the latest LGBT bullying related suicide. I quickly found out that it was a Minnesota teen who died on Saturday morning. With these basic facts, my mind immediately went on high alert. I grew up in Minnesota -- I know plenty of young people who live there.

Then the conversation got more specific--it was a boy from Jefferson High School. What? I graduated from Jefferson High School. What if I knew this boy? Passed him in the hallway when he was a freshman? What if his locker was near my old one? Could he have known my favorite teacher? I started to wonder--what does it mean for me to be spending so much of my energy on Stop the Silence, an LGBT anti-bullying campaign, and spending so much of my time planning Break the Silence, Wisconsin, a statewide march addressing homophobia and transphobia, when a young man that I easily could have known took his own life because the level of intolerance that he faced on a daily basis became too much?

Stop the Silence was started in response to a string of LGBTQ suicides that took place in September and October of 2010. We are now passing quickly through January and once again, a boy's body is being buried. His family will never again be able to give him a hug. Friends unable to tell him a funny story or ask for his advice. He will never have the chance to hold his diploma, have dinner with a significant other or pursue his dreams. Lance Lundsten, with his beautiful and welcoming smile, will never be able to see it get better.

After reading the article about his death I realized that the Jefferson High School this boy went to was not the same as the one I graduated from. Well that's a relief, right? He's not connected to me in any way, not a friend of one of my friends, nor is he the brother of someone in my graduating class. For a split second, those thoughts danced through my brain. I soon realized, however, that his connection to me is far deeper than any high school alumni or six degrees of separation could ever wish to form.

The word "my" becomes shockingly insignificant when thinking about the reasons for this boy's death. Homophobia and transphobia have an extremely powerful effect on communities all around the world. They may play out in unique ways, but one thing remains the same wherever or whoever you are--hatred directed toward a salient aspect of one's identity is always experienced in negative ways.

For this boy, and the countless others who saw death as their only escape from a world that is so cold and unable to accept them for who they are, bullying was not a minor part of their day. The people who picked on them, called them names, tripped them in the hallway, and made their lives miserable in countless other ways, may not have seen their actions as anything major. They may have enjoyed causing pain but thought it only temporary and fun. Unfortunately, as this situation and the countless others like it demonstrate, one person's fun can all too easily come at the price of another's life.

I am tired of reading about suicides. I am sick of thinking about the loss of a young person's life because of other people's ignorance. Please stop the silence. Please speak up. It doesn't matter if you identify as LGBT or not. It doesn't matter if you've never experienced bullying in your personal life. Speak up for those whose voices are silenced. Bullying affects each and every one of us because it is the manifestation of hatred. It needs to end.

Think about ways you can make it better. Write your school administrators and tell them why policies need to be put in place that prevent bullying. Stand up for people whenever you feel safe doing so. If you're in Wisconsin, show solidarity with thousands of others by attending Break the Silence, Wisconsin on April 15th. Use facebook and other online networking sites as advocacy tools letting your friends know that you do not support anti-LGBTQ attitudes and behaviors or harassment of any kind. Think about your actions, the words you use, and the messages you send. 

Peace be with the friends and family of Lance as well as anyone who must deal with the effects of living in a culture that actively supports homophobia and transphobia. There are so many issues and problems plaguing our world, why does this have to be one of them? Love the people around you for who they are--that's one of the most important things we can all be doing on a daily basis.

I posed the question in my first paragraph asking what this boy's death means for me as one of the founding members of an LGBTQ anti-bullying campaign and primary organizers of Break the Silence, Wisconsin. So what does it mean? It means that our work is more important now than ever before. It means that bullying may have fallen out of the public eye, but the problems clearly persist. And most of all, it reminds me that the sadness associated with this news goes hand in hand with the power and unity that will radiate from the state of Wisconsin on April 15, 2011. There should not be one individual in the world who ever feels like taking their own life is the answer--help us end the fear. Help us remove homophobia and transphobia from their comfortable spot in our culture. Help us stop the silence.

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Did Minnesota Teen Kill Himself?

By Advocate.com Editors
The medical examiner investigating the death of 18-year-old Lance Lundsten says he won’t know if the Minnesota high schooler took his own life until after autopsy results and laboratory testing are complete.

Monday night, KSAX TV reported the Jefferson High School senior took his own life Saturday after being bullied at school. Friends of Lundsten's wrote on a Facebook memorial page they believe he had been bullied at school for being gay, which may have led him to kill himself.

But a report quickly followed that Lance’s father had spoken to the coroner, who said Lance had an enlarged heart and died of coronary edema.

Tuesday, Douglas County medical examiner Mark Spanbauer confirmed that the teen’s heart was slightly enlarged, but said that was a secondary finding, and the primary cause of death remained undetermined. He said it could take weeks to determine the primary cause.

Shortly after Lundsten's death, U.S. senator Al Franken of Minnesota spoke out against antigay bullying and recommitted to legislation he’s sponsored that would call for antibullying measures in public schools.

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Franken Responds to Latest Teen Suicide

By Advocate.com Editors

U.S. senator Al Franken of Minnesota, sponsor of legislation that would call for antibullying measures in public schools, expressed his condolences to the family of Lance Lundsten, an 18-year-old from Miltona, Minn., who died in an apparent suicide.
KSAX TV reports that authorities believe Lundsten’s death was a suicide. Police officers responded to an emergency call at his family’s residence in Miltona around 10 p.m. Saturday, and he was taken to Douglas County Hospital, where he died. Friends of Lundsten said the 18-year-old was the target of bullying for his sexual orientation.

"My heart goes out to Lance's family and friends and loved ones. It's a tragic event not only for them, but for the school and the [community] and really for all of us," Franken said.

Last year Franken introduced a Senate bill explicitly addressing antigay bullying in public schools. Of the legislation, he told The Advocate in October, "It’s clear that we need to do more to protect our students from bullying and harassment, and it’s time that we extend equal rights to LGBT students. No student should be subjected to discrimination and harassment in school, and we must tackle this problem at every level — local, state, and federal."

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Bullied gay teen in Minnesota commits suicide

By Eric Ethington

MILTONA, Minn. — We’ve lost another beautiful life to bullying. Lance Lundsten, 18, an openly gay student at Jefferson High School, took his life over the weekend. Friends say that Lance suffered extreme bullying and harassment for years.

Around 10 p.m. Saturday, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office responded to an emergency call at the Lundsten’s residence in Miltona, Minnesota.

When officers arrived, they discovered Lance needing emergency medical care. Lance was transported to the Douglas County Hospital where he later died.

The Sheriff’s Office confirmed to KSAX-TV that they believed Lundsten’s death was a suicide. The Sheriff would not confirm the nature of the medical emergency.

According to KSAX, Lundsten had revealed on Facebook that he was openly gay, and some students at his high school said he was bullied for his sexual orientation.

Lance’s friends have created a new facebook group after the news of his death, called the “Jefferson Anti-Bully Coalition.”

Even if his school didn’t help Lance survive the bullying, the heroic group of friends are pushing to do their part. The page reads “Here to stand up for everyone who needs defending. The school’s staff isn’t protecting us, it’s up to the students to help each other.”

Friends have also set up a memorial page for Lance on Facebook.

No word yet from Jefferson High School.

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