The first of the young men to hang himself loved to spend time outdoors hunting and fishing.
One of his pallbearers, a popular basketball and football player who graduated from Caruthersville High School in May, hanged himself less than four months after the funeral.
Between those deaths, two others killed themselves the same way — each hanged himself with a belt from a clothing bar in a closet. All four suicides happened between July and November in rural southeast Missouri.
Despite the similarities, police, school and church officials have found no evidence of a suicide pact or a direct connection between the deaths.
"There was no indication that any of them talked to each other about it, at least not that we've heard from their family or friends," Pemiscot County Coroner Jim Brimhall said.
The deaths have hit hard in this region known for sprawling fields of cotton, rice and soybeans. About one-third of the 6,700 residents in Caruthersville live below the poverty line.
Cooter High School principal Frank Killian and other community leaders are trying to drive home the message that nothing is so bad it merits suicide, that students can receive help coping.
"They want the pain they're feeling to go away, but they will create more," Killian said.
The first jolt came when Clayton Andres Gonzalez, a 17-year-old standout pitcher and shortstop at the high school, shot himself June 10. Gregory Hawk Callens, 18, was among hundreds of young people to attend the funeral, held on a baseball field.
Callens, who had dropped out of school but was pursuing a GED, hanged himself July 21.
One of Callens' pallbearers, Jason "J.J." Tate, 18, hanged himself Nov. 10. The popular basketball and football player graduated from Caruthersville High in May and planned to attend a nearby community college this winter.
Two other young men, Steven Ray Craig Jr., 18, and Christopher Slavings, 23, hanged themselves Sept. 14 and Oct. 8.
On the day of his death, Craig spoke on the phone with his father. They talked about the son's new fishing reel, bought for a trip planned for the following Saturday.
The father told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that his son had a fight with his girlfriend, and left his family a note saying he loved them but "this was something he couldn't deal with. He couldn't cope with it."
Young people are mourning their friends in different ways. A few have gotten tattoos to remember Gonzalez, or put decals on their car windows in his memory. They created tributes on the Internet to the young men, and left written notes at Tate's grave.
Students in Caruthersville have been spotted with bandanas on their heads to remember Callens and Tate, known for the headwear.
School officials are keeping an eye on the tributes, knowing they can be helpful for sad students, but wanting to make sure the remembrances aren't glorifying suicide in some way.
"I understand our students need to grieve, and they need to grieve in their own way. I want to respect that, but I don't want to create heroes out of these young men," Superintendent Nicholas Thiele said.
The Caruthersville district made its counselors available after Callens' death and stepped up efforts after Tate died to provide increased awareness about suicide, depression, isolation, drug and alcohol abuse.
Now, every student in grades 7-12 learns a program known as QPR, for "question, persuade and refer." Students learn how to talk to friends who are stressed or in trouble and how to notify adults immediately when there's a concern. They're being told about hot lines they can call and other resources available to them.
The town held three community meetings to outline the risk factors and warning signs of suicide, ways to support grieving youths and the basic steps to a suicide intervention. Ministers are talking to teens from the pulpit and one-on-one.
Aaron House, 17, who knew a couple of the young men, said he thinks the best thing is for parents to sit down with their children, talk to them and be open to what they have to say.
His own parents did just that, and House said it helped.
"It let me think someone's there," he said.