A 19-year-old college student from Stillwater, Minnesota shot and killed herself just weeks after an amateur porn video featuring her was released on the web, sources said Wednesday.

Alyssa Funke, a straight-A student at the University of Wisconsin, was 18 when she took part in the video for a website called CastingCouch-X, using the name of Stella Ann.

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The sex tape of the young woman was released online in March and only days after it went viral former schoolmates from Funke's high-school as well as college classmates began flooding her social media accounts with abusive and derogatory messages.

The messages ranged from nasty slurs to using slang words to refer to Funke as a 'prostitute' and a 'slut'.

Miss Funke retaliated by posting tweets of her own, including: 'Pornstar status' and 'FAMOUS for dayzzzzz.'

But despite putting up a brave front, the words of her peers did have an effect on Funke, her family stated.

Late last month the college student purchased a shotgun, drove down to a local lake, and killed herself on her family's boat.

It is only recently that attention has been brought to the tragedy as authorities hone in on the growing issue of suicides related to bullying in the US - a nation which has seen a growing rate of cyberbullying in the last year alone.

However, nine teenage suicides around the globe in 2013 have been directly linked to cyberbullying - most due to comments left on the notorious site Ask.fm where users can post questions and responses to fellow participants with the option of anonymity.

An investigation is ongoing with the local sheriff's department regarding the teen's death, but officials are hesitant to constitute bullying messages left on Funke's social media sites as criminal harassment.

Miss Funke's family has opened a 'The Alyssa Stop Bullying Fund' which so far has raised only $165.