Season 4, Episode 6
Ben
Age: 25
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Addiction: DXM (cough medicine)
What’s Memorable: The psychosis he displays as he walks around the city, the older dude that had a sexual relationship with him and still supports him to some extent, the things this kid could have done with his life.
Update: Benjamin Alexander Lowe died on December 21, 2016. The cause of death was not made public. Obituary here.
Official synopsis: Ben, 25, experienced a childhood filled with domestic violence, homelessness and isolation. He never got to fulfill the potential of his 170 I.Q. and found a new way to find comfort when he was in high school–a drug called DXM. Now, Ben spends his days shoplifting, panhandling, and even prostituting himself to finance his drug addiction. Desperate to help Ben, his mother arranges an intervention that’s her last hope for saving his life.
Original Air Date: January 2008
Intereventionist: Jeff
I would so love to know how Ben is doing now? He seemed liked a good kid that was just so lost. any updates on his whereabouts and his addiction?
He goes by the name Rob Cypher ( spelled in many different ways ) and other monikers over the Web on sites dedicated to DXM use/abuse . He is also known for Trolling and using very disruptive behavior on other sites . Does not seem to be doing that great .
excuse me if I’m wrong or confusing with another episode, didn’t your “what’s memorable” for this used to include a sentence about a backpack he has being knocked to the ground by a pimp after Ben did not pay a sex worker?
Not sure, that may have been a comment that got deleted? I don’t recall having that in the memorable part of the post.
my bad! it must have been a comment on another post; I sorta read about 1000 of your posts in the span of a few hours so I’m sure I got confused.
I just watched this episode and the part you’re referring to is when he gets oral sex from a prostitute and says “don’t worry you’ll be compensated.” But after the fact doesn’t have any money and had told her the film crew would pay her. She ends up calling her pimp and since he had no money the pimp took his backpack which was full of books, CDs and a Walkman type CD player.
Not paying a sex worker is rape.
https://twitter.com/robcypher
Ben’s twitter
Ben’s brother is reporting via Ben’s Facebook profile that he passed away today. He had many Facebook friends, as he used to post many news articles and would bring up current political and social issues. The debates on his posts would often get quite heated. But Ben always seemed like an intelligent, insightful person even if I didn’t always agree with his viewpoints. I’ll miss him, as will many others.
From Ben’s FB yesterday:
Hello everyone. This is Ben’s brother Aaron. I think he would want me to let you know that he passed away. The exact time and cause of death are unknown but likely natural causes.
I am sorry to all of the friends he has made over the years. We’ll provide updates on any news. Donations can be made through Paypal to [email protected] and will go toward cremation as we think he would prefer that to a burial.
We ask that you care for the ones you love this season and stay safe.
Thank you for the information. Can you please send me a link to Ben’s FB page so I can verify? Send to [email protected]
EDITED: Disregard, I found his page, which is full of outpourings from his many friends and followers. RIP Ben. https://www.facebook.com/robcypher
Oh , I hope this is not true because that means he has died but please verify as best you can about his death as some of the info left by his “brother” is suspect . There is a huge problem with online fraud via paypal, gofundme and other sites being done by people needing cash and there have been subjects from this show that have ended up involved in some really bad stuff after ( and before ) the show in order to obtain money . If that paypal account is his that is weird as you would expect his family to have set up something .
Anyway if Ben did pass away may he rest in peace .
This is absolutely true unfortunately????
Rest in peace Rb :'(
https://www.facebook.com/robcypher
RIP Ben, related to him quite a bit from how he felt left out from having friends growing up because of his intelligence. Seemed like a wonderful intelligent soul gone too soon.
RIP Ben, you were an extremely intelligent and thoughtful human being. I hope you are feeling safe, peaceful and happy wherever you are now.
In case anyone wanted to read it…
https://www.legacy.com/amp/obituaries/postgazette/183596310
I wonder what happened to Sue?
His mother confirmed on Facebook that it was an overdose. Rest in peace.
Just want to pay my respects to Ben and his family. He was a fascinating person. His episode is bizarre, deeply sad and uniquely emotional. As a former addict I of course have a soft spot for him in my heart. I wish it went another way for him.