Kathy Hedberg of the LMT is running a three-part series on teen suicide in Idaho. Her findings are disturbing.
Idaho has long had one of the highest rates of death by suicide in the country and north central Idaho ranks among the top counties for completed suicides, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
In 2015, the most recent year suicide deaths were tracked, Idaho had the fifth highest suicide rate in the country; 57 percent higher than the national average.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death of Idahoans between the ages of 15 and 34 and for males ages 10 to 14.
Between 2011 and 2015, according to state statistics, 102 Idaho school children younger than 18 died by suicide. Twenty-four of these were age 14 and younger.
In Region 2 in 2015, which includes Nez Perce, Clearwater, Latah, Idaho and Lewis counties, death by suicide ranked second-highest in the state with 20 suicides and a five-year average rate of 22.5 per 100,000 population.
Firearms are the leading method of suicide deaths for all ages at 59 percent, followed by suffocation at 19 percent and poisoning at 17 percent.