Rachel Ehmke, 13-Year-Old Girl, Hangs Herself After Mean Girl Clique Calls Her ?Slut,? ?Prostitute?

Her parents, Rick and Mary Ehmke, said the bullying she suffered at the hands of her classmates at Kasson/Mantorville Middle School and online led her to commit the tragic act.

Her family said Ehmke became a victim of bullying last fall. Chewing gum was stuck to her textbooks and the word slut was written across her gym locker, reported the Austin Daily Herald.

She tried to deal with it. We thought she was dealing with it and the school thought she was dealing with it, said her father rick to Kare11.  She locked into this stuff and couldn't let it go. 

Her sister, Brittany said their father complained to school officials about the bullying, but they were slow to respond.

It took school staff two phone calls from her father before the cleaned the word slut off of her locker.

My dad had to call twice before [they] actually did something about it, Brittany said. Everyone had to watch my little sister open her locker [with the word still present], reported the Austin Daily Herald.

A group of girls threatened Rachel and called her a prostitute repeatedly even though she had never kissed a boy, reported MyFox9.

Ehmke had asked her father to switch schools because the bullying had become unbearable. She and a friend even began eating lunch in a locker room to avoid the taunts.

Two days before her death, an anonymous text went out to several students at the school.

It was pretty explicit. Something to the effect of that Rachel was a slut and to get her to leave the Kasson-Mantorville School, forward this to everyone you know, said Chris Flannery, a parent of a student who received the text, according to Kare11.

The Minnesota Public Radio reported the text was traced to someone who was not a student at the school. The district's bulling policy prohibits the act online and in person. It states that it will investigate all reports of bullying within 24 hours.   

The victim's father said the Dodge County Attorney is investigating the bullying. There is a possibility that criminal charges may be filed in the case, but the family does not plan to press charges.

They're kids. They made some horrible decisions. If these kids would've have known this would happen I'm pretty sure they never, ever would have done what they did, Rick said to the Minnesota Public Radio. Sadly enough, even those kids that know who they are will carry this bag their whole life. That's a sad thing too, it really is.

Her parents found a suicide note after her death. The note read I'm fine = I wish I could tell you how I really feel.

Rick said he wished the school had prosecuted the bullies last fall, yet he ultimately does not blame them.

Words hurt. Word can kill, said her mother wiping away tears to Kare11. And it did, added her father. I'd give anything to have her back, I really would.