A promising 15-year-old boy tragically died just hours after he was pulled into a sickening sextortion scheme, his heartbroken father said.

Bryce Tate, a sophomore from Cross Lanes, West Virginia, was found dead in his home on November 6 with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. 

His sudden death left his family completely shocked, but when detectives combed through the teen’s phone they found what transpired just moments before he took his final breath.

Tate was targeted as a part of a surging online sextortion ruse, where ruthless people specifically target teenage boys, study their social media profiles, cozy up to the victims and pretend to be a flirtatious girl in a bid to extort them for money.

Just three hours before he took his own life, Tate received a text message from an unknown number pretending to be a teenage girl who was interested in him, his father, Adam Tat, told the New York Post. 

‘They acted like a local 17-year-old girl. They knew which gym he worked out at, they knew a couple of his best friends and name-dropped them,’ Adam said.

‘They knew he played basketball for Nitro High School. They built his trust to where he believed that this was truly somebody in this area.’

He also received photos from the strange number that were not AI-generated, but likely an image of a real girl who was another victim in the scheme, a source told the outlet.

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Bryce Tate, 15, was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on November 6 after receiving a text message from an unknown number just hours earlier

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The person sending the messages to the teen (pictured with his mother and father) told him they were a 17-year-old girl who was attracted to him and knew personal things about Tate, his father, Adam Tate, said

After sending images, scammers are known to ask for illicit photos in return.

Then once they have them, the vicious schemers extort the innocent victims for money by threatening to show the explicit images to friends and family.

Tate was asked to shell out $500, but he didn’t have it.

‘My son had 30 freaking dollars and he’s like, “Sir, I’ll give you my last $30”,’ Adam said. ‘And these cowards wouldn’t take it.’

When targets like Tate can’t send the requested amount, whether through cryptocurrency, gift cards, Venmo or Cash App, the extortionists are known to threaten them with violence or, in Tate’s case, tell them to commit suicide.

Police found Tate was messaged 120 times in the last 20 minutes of his life, which is what these scammers do to create a ‘tunnel vision to where you can’t set your phone down,’ Adam said, recalling what authorities told him.

Although his son did pull the trigger, Adam said he was murdered by ‘godless demons.’

‘They say it’s suicide, but in my book it is 100% murder,’ he said.

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Tate was asked to shell out $500 by the heartless scammers, but when he didn’t have it they turned to violence

‘They’re godless demons, in my opinion. Just cowards, awful individuals, worse than criminals.’

In 2024 alone, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tracked more than 33,000 reports of child sextortion cases, the group told The Post.

In the first six months of 2025, approximately the same amount of reports came in, the non-profit said.

The FBI is also fully aware of the scheme, Bradford Arick, a public affairs specialist with the agency, said.

‘The FBI has seen a huge increase in the number of sextortion cases involving children and teens being threatened and coerced into sending explicit images online,’ Arick stated.

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Tate has been remembered as an ‘extraordinary young man’ who enjoyed playing basketball, lifting weights and playing video games

Tate has been remembered as an ‘extraordinary young man whose light touched everyone fortunate enough to know him,’ his obituary read.

It added: ‘As an amazing son and devoted friend, he embodied respect, intelligence, and a boundless sense of humor that could brighten even the darkest days.’

He enjoyed playing basketball and video games with his friends, and was also into lifting weights.

A celebration of life was held for Tate on November 13 followed by a burial.