The predatory web of sextortion increasingly ensnares young athletes

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Editor's note: This story contains references to suicide and gun violence.

MARQUETTE, Mich. -- The first message to Jordan DeMay's Instagram arrived innocently enough.

"Hey," it read.

It was the evening of March 24, 2022. The sender was "Dani.Robertts," someone who would later assert to be a 19-year-old college woman from Atlanta. Her profile picture showed a pretty teen in a car with a German shepherd. She followed 1,805 accounts and had 683 followers, including one of Jordan's teammates at Marquette High School, where he was a well-known football and basketball player.

Jordan DeMay, 17, stood 6-foot-2, with blond hair. He was the homecoming king, popular and funny, with an…