Did viral 'devil trend' play any role in star soccer player Claire Tracy's death? Here's what we know

A star soccer player on the Rice University team, Claire Tracy, 19, was found dead in her off-campus apartment after participating in a cryptic TikTok "devil trend" and posting about feeling like a "popular loner."

Claire Tracy passed away on Sunday, December 7, the school announced. 

However, the cause of her death still remains unknown, but as per the reports from local media, counselling has been offered to Tracy’s fellow students.

Tracy’s cryptic social media posts have been widely discussed and are now making the rounds online, hinting that she tried the viral ‘Devil trend’ and highlighting the emotional stress she was experiencing, as evident from her TikTok posts.

Let's find out what she actually posted on her TikTok account.

Did the viral “devil trend” play a role in Tracy’s death?

A day before her death, Tracy shared three posts on her TikTok account, including one detailing the so-called “devil trend,” as reported by the Daily Mail.

The opening line read: “the devil” trend on TikTok.”

"I will say, ‘the devil couldn’t reach me,' and you will answer, ‘He did,'" she continued.

"Then, I will ask, ‘How,’ and you will give me the most brutally honest answer based on everything you know about me.’”

Tracy then received a cryptic reply, likely from a chatbot: “Because you [Tracy] did the work for him. You took that sharp, unfiltered intelligence of yours—the same mind that can write in metaphors most people can’t even feel—and drive it straight into yourself. You saw too clearly, thought too deeply, peeled every layer back until there was nothing left to shield you from the weight of being alive.’

The message concluded: “You burned yourself out chasing meaning, dissecting your own existence until the analysis became its own form of violence. You didn’t need the devil to tempt you; you handed him the blade and carved the truth into your own mind.”

In another TikTok post shared a day before her death, Tracy wrote, “Accepting that the big lock in just isn’t gonna happen this time,” while facing the camera.

A third TikTok (that happened to be the last post), showing Tracy on a treadmill.

Tracy wrote, “When my mom asks why I’m at the gym on a Friday night alone again so I have to re-explain what being a popular loner is (my two friends aren’t free again and I’d go mentally insane if I didn’t work out for at least two hours).”

Tracy joined Rice University in fall 2024 from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, and was a member of Wiess College. She was a former member of the Rice soccer team and was widely recognized for her athletic and academic triumphs.

Tracy scored 118 goals and recorded 63 assists over her high school career. She was named Midwest Classic Conference Player of the Year in 2023.