Trans Woman Game Developer Commits Suicide After Online Bullying

A transgender woman video game developer committed suicide last week after enduring online bullying, the Daily Mail reports.

Rachel Bryk, 23, jumped off the George Washington Bridge, which connects New York City and New Jersey, on April 23, days after people online urged her to kill herself.

An eyewitness reported seeing a young woman leave her purse on the bridge and jump into the Hudson River, according to the Daily Mail. Brky's body has yet to be found.

Days before Bryk took her own life, the game developer wrote on social media about killing herself.

"Bryk had established herself as a most prominent game developer on the software project called Dolphin," the Daily Mail writes. According to video game website Kotaku, Dolphin is a popular emulator that allows people to play Wii and GameCube games on the PC.

"Dolphin is what's allowed fans to see games like "Super Mario Galaxy" and other Nintendo games from the previous eras in high-definition," Kotaku writes. "It's pretty amazing, and while certainly a bit of a grey area, there's no denying the passion behind Dolphin and the people who've crafted it."

Though Bryk was a popular game developer, the Daily Mail reports she was often bullied online because she was transgender. When she wrote about killing herself on the message board 4chan, users encouraged her to take her own life.

The newspaper also notes Bryk also suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and depression.

Since her passing, the community hub for Dolphin released a statement.

"It's hard to believe that just two years ago, Rachel was reluctant to submit changes to the emulator at all due to being relatively inexperienced," the statement reads in part. "But over the course of two years, she spent a considerable amount of time working on what she loved, becoming the tenth most active developer over the time period."

A number of the members of Dolphin development team also issued statements on Bryk's passing:

"Rachel was more than just a great programmer. She was a great programmer who always managed to put a smile on my face. I don't think that there ever will be anyone else quite like her. Rest in peace - Stevoisiak"

"No matter what, she was always willing to help anyone. Of all the devs she was the most helpful on the forums, always pitching in. Dolphin is a smaller place without her.. - MaJoR"

Bryk's mother, Lisa Bryk, spoke with Gay Star News and said she found out about her daughter's passing last Friday.

"She was super smart, really good with computers," she told Gay Star News. "We'll miss her."