'Karr' postings point to Web site for kids

Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 19, 2006 at midnight

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The man suspected of killing JonBenet Ramsey may have operated a Web site for troubled kids and posted dozens of notes on Internet message boards for young people - some asking them about sex - in the months before JonBenet's death.

The messages were posted by a man who identified himself as John Karr, a 31-year-old with three children who planned to start college as an elementary-education major and work as a substitute teacher in the fall of 1996.

Another message from the same domain name was posted by someone who said that her name was Lara and that she was 23.

John Mark Karr, arrested Wednesday in Thailand for the 1996 murder of JonBenet, would have been 31, with three children, at the time.

He started classes at Bevill State Community College in Hamilton, Ala., where he studied to be a teacher, in fall 1996, records show.

The superintendent of Marion County Schools also has said Karr was added to the district's substitute-teacher roster that fall, having just earned his certification.

And Karr's now ex-wife, Lara, would have been about 23 when the messages were posted.

In all, there were at least 40 messages from "John Karr" posted on Usenet groups in early 1996.

The groups ranged from "parents-teens" to "personals" and chats for elementary, middle school and high school students.

In the posts, the author referred readers to a Web site called PowerWurks, described as "a worldwide support organization for kids, teens and college students."

The Web site - which no longer belongs to a youth support group - was "an e-mail-based crisis feedback program" at the time, the author wrote. He also said he hoped to eventually have an 800 hot line and other features as well.

"All my plans revolve around kids," the author wrote in one message posted in March 1996 on a group about missing children. "I am very concerned about the well-being of all young people."

The author also said in that post that he had a huge database of information on missing children that he obtained from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and that he would "do anything to help find a missing child," including sharing the data.

On a group for people who are feeling lonely, the author said he believed "a large part of loneliness revolves around an empty heart that needs to be filled with love."

"If you feel like no one cares about you, that's impossible, because I care about you," he wrote before urging readers to e-mail or visit his site. "No subject is banned from discussion," he added. "All conversations are strictly confidential, and that's a promise!"

In a group for high school students, the author wrote: "The legal age to consent to sex, in many states of the U.S., ranges from 14 to 16. Do you think the age should be raised or lowered, and why?"

In a site for elementary students, he also posted this question: "Is sex among people under 10 a rarity or commonplace?"

Other posts discuss how to protect oneself on the Internet by getting an anonymous e-mail address, "super relationships" that are "matches made in heaven," and whether high school students are thinking about or already having sex.

It's unclear when the PowerWurks Web site was shut down, although the messages seem to stop in spring 1996.

The domain name www.powerwurks.com was registered Thursday in Pennsylvania by someone who is using it to document the "John Karr" Internet postings and the possible links to the JonBenet Ramsey case.

Staff writer M.E. Sprengelmeyer contributed to this report.

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