Scott-Columbus.com

but it doesn't really comfort me any that there are no details being officially released by the family, that his obituary is peppered with buzzwords used only by the band that he wasn't in for the last three years of his life, and that his personal pages, which I set up for him so that he could show his true self directly to the public, have been removed from the internet.

Scott came to me about a year ago asking advice about getting himself a website. I set him up with a facebook and a tumblr site for him to start using right away, and offered to do him a 'real' site in the future. He was surprised to see how easy tumblr was to use and how he could speak directly to everyone on facebook. For some reason whenever I logged into his tumblr to help him out, I'd accidentally reset the colors he'd carefully chosen for his page. So I quit messing with his stuff and he did it all himself. He was happy to have a direct avenue to talk to the world and that was good enough.

I became a consultant to him. My main function was to remember his passwords and help him reset them because he would change and lose them regularly. We spoke often up until the last few months, when I got busy with life and he seemed to have a good handle on what he was doing on his own.

Our last 'conversation' was through email when he sent me a message with his new phone number that said "I'm alive..... talk soon"

It is unheard of in anyone's death that no cause is given at all. I am sad that his family, friends and fans all missed out on the opportunity to give each other comfort and remember the man in a fitting way.

I urge people not to buy any tribute merchandise that may crop up if it lines the pocket of the people in the band he wasn't in anymore. No one should make profit off this tragedy. The family has made it clear they want complete privacy, so I'm sure they are not going to be participating in fundraising activities.