Members of an anonymous forum dedicated to Fairfax, Va., gossip may have cyberbullied a female firefighter who died in an apparent suicide in Shenandoah National Park. The National Park Service says female remains were found in the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia on April 21, during the search for the paramedic-firefighter who disappeared a week ago. A medical examiner ruled her death a suicide, ABC7 reported, and police confirmed that there was a suicide note in her car. Police found a suicide note in her Mini Cooper, which was parked a mile from the site where her body was discovered. Fire Chief Richard Bowers acknowledged a scattering of disparaging forum posts that referred to several female paramedic-firefighters, including Mittendorff, as “slut.” He pledged to investigate the harassment. “If there is any nexus with any type of bullying, which I have zero tolerance for, in the physical nature of bullying itself, or in a written nature or verbal nature, if you will, of bullying. "I have and will continue to retain all IP addresses of Fairfax Underground posters indefinitely in case any court wishes to unmask the perpetrators of this abuse," Wiedemann said in an email to The Huffington Post on Monday. I assure you that my department can not and will not tolerate bullying of any kind,” Bowers stated. The derogatory posts from unidentified users continued even after news broke that authorities had found Mittendorff’s body. "I know that he will ensure a good training and suicide prevention program will be developed and make every effort to hold anyone responsible accountable, should there be anyone." “We will thoroughly investigate this matter and take any appropriate actions needed. (Find Nicole via Facebook) Facebook photos of missing paramedic-firefighter Nicole Mittendorff, seen here with husband Steven Mittendorf.  A few months before 31-year-old Nicole Mittendorff was found dead last week in a suspected suicide, the Virginia firefighter was attacked in an online forum that appeared to target female emergency workers. Virginia State Police are searching for Nicole Mittendorff, 31, who was reported missing Friday after her Mini Cooper was discovered in Shenandoah National Park.
– Authorities are investigating whether anonymous posts in an online forum pushed Virginia firefighter Nicole Mittendorff to suicide. In a thread for emergency workers on website Fairfax Underground in December, the 31-year-old was called derogatory names including "slut," Fairfax Fire Chief Richard Bowers tells the New York Daily News. After Mittendorff was found to have died from hanging in Shenandoah National Park, the hateful posts continued. The bullies haven't been identified, but some claimed to work at the Fairfax County Fire Department, where Mittendorff was employed for three years, reports WJLA. Bowers says his department "cannot and will not tolerate bullying of any kind" and will investigate. "If in fact there is anybody responsible for any piece of this, I will hold them accountable," he tells WUSA. "I have and will continue to retain all IP addresses of Fairfax Underground posters indefinitely in case any court wishes to unmask the perpetrators of this abuse," a website moderator tells the Huffington Post. Other female firefighters and paramedics were judged on their attractiveness and accused of sleeping with their colleagues. The case "offers a chilling window into the persistent harassment women encounter on a daily basis online and at work," writes columnist Petula Dvorak at the Washington Post. "I am on the receiving end of the onslaught daily." While women are often told to ignore the bullying, "it matters, it hurts, it means something. And it has to stop," she adds. "I'd say, 'Ask Nicole Mittendorff how this feels.' But we can't." Authorities have yet to share the contents of a suicide note discovered in Mittendorff's vehicle.