Emma Kuhlin was an "amazing girl," a soon-to-be freshman at Penn Manor High School who was dating a boy and "had a beautiful life ahead," according to Web posts by those who claim to know the teen.

But the 14-year-old girl, said to be tormented by classmates on a social media "burn book," reportedly killed herself last week, and news of her suicide has since gone viral on Twitter and Facebook.

There's even a YouTube memorial to her and prayer requests made to at least one local church.

Only one problem, one tiny little detail has escaped many of those who have automatically retweeted or shared the tragic news on popular social networks: Emma Kuhlin doesn't seem to exist.

Local hospitals do not have any record of someone with that name being taken to the emergency room. Coroners in two counties say they have not responded to a recent suicide by a teenager. The coroners also said they do not have the name Emma Kuhlin in their databases.

And, most tellingly, local high school officials never heard of an Emma Kuhlin.

"This is turning into an urban Penn Manor legend," superintendent Mike Leichliter said Tuesday. "It's becoming viral, in a sense, for the local area."

But whether the creation of a fictional high school student is a vicious hoax or a case of misinformation spreading like wildfire remains unclear.

The district itself expressed disappointment over the incident and felt compelled to issue a public statement about the rumors Tuesday afternoon.

"Cyberbullying is a serious issue and we encourage any child or parent who has knowledge of this type of behavior to immediately contact school officials or the local police for assistance," Leichliter writes in the statement.

"Rumors, especially those involving the death of a child, spread through word of mouth or social media can also cause undue harm to individuals or organizations and are equally unacceptable."

A short time after the statement was issued, Facebook accounts in the names of Kuhlin and someone claiming to be her sister were deleted.

The rumors about a student suicide began spreading late last week, following the publication of a front-page story about burn books in Thursday's Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era.

Burn books, inspired by the 2004 Lindsay Lohan movie "Mean Girls," are Twitter accounts where an anonymous person posts multiple Tweets that insult, taunt and call out classmates by name on the social media messaging network.

Manheim Township, Warwick, Manheim Central, Donegal, Garden Spot, Hempfield and Ephrata high schools are among those that have been targeted by burn book accounts.

Late Friday night, Twitter users began posting a flurry of updates about the fictitious Penn Manor freshman.

"Whoever burned Emma Kuhlin I hope you're happy," wrote one user. "The girl committed suicide cause of ya stupid burn book. Rest in peace Emma!"

Some teens went so far as to claim to know Kuhlin.

"R.I.P Emma Kuhlin<3 I don't know you that well but you were dating my friend..you were an amazing girl<3 you will be missed<3 we love you<3," posted another Twitter user.

Several Lancaster County residents notified the newspaper of the rumors over the weekend; one said her church had received a prayer request for the girl's family.

A blogger identified as a Hempfield sophomore posted a lengthy tribute to Kuhlin, whom he or she claimed not to know.

"You were, and are, a light. A guide. A glimpse into what we're doing wrong as a generation. You are a martyr of our put-downs, our insults. You are everything, and they made sure you felt as if you were nothing in the end. I hope to God that wherever you believed you were going after your passing, you made it. I hope you made it. I hope you found home," the blogger wrote.

At least one teen who describes herself as a victim of bullying posted a YouTube tribute to Kuhlin.

"It's been brought to my attention this morning on Facebook that a girl named Emma Kuhlin from Penn Manor, which is a district near where I live, has taken her life due to these burn books, and I really wanted to speak up about it because I just think it's awful," the unnamed teen says.

Responded one viewer: "I love this. I personally go to school at L-S  (somewhere near penn manor) and tons of people I know are getting bullied ... #RIPEmma."

The posts continued through the weekend and caught the attention of school officials and, eventually, police.

A thorough investigation and check of school records at both Penn Manor and Hempfield — another variation of the rumor claimed she was a freshman there — turned up no evidence of a suicide or even attempted suicide by a student. School officials said they don't even have a student with that name on the books.

Officials at Hershey Medical Center, where Kuhlin was rumored to have been treated before dying, said they had no one in their database with that name. A spokeswoman for Lancaster General Hospital said no one with that name had been brought to its emergency room.

Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen G. Diamantoni said his office has not recently responded to a death matching those circumstances.

The Dauphin County coroner, whose jurisdiction includes Hershey Medical Center, said it had no matches on that name in its database, which dates back to 2004.

A search of public records here — property, marriage, civil and criminal databases — turned up not a single person with the name of Kuhlin in Lancaster County.

All of which leaves officials here perplexed and disturbed.

"I'm not troubled by people posting information about a tragedy,"  Leichliter said. "What troubles me is that people would keep repeating something that's second-hand, third-hand, fourth-hand and fifth-hand.

"The Internet can be a great tool, but it can also be harmful if you take everything at face value. You don't just read something and believe it to be true."

tmurse@lnpnews.com

Follow @TomMurse