Gary Cleary was arrested after the group presented police with evidence of Cleary reportedly grooming a child online, the profile of which Letzgo Hunting had set up.
The engineer, who lived with his girlfriend, was released on bail while officers investigated the allegations.
However he was found dead in the garage at his home four days later. A coroner last week recorded a verdict of suicide.
A relative of Cleary’s college worker girlfriend Melissa Andrews, who asked not to be named, said:
‘It’s a tragedy and has left everyone extremely upset. The family have been told by the police that their investigation is still ongoing.’
‘I think it is a sad reflection on modern life that vigilantes are operating under cover of the internet. It puts the country back 300 years.’
Letzgo Hunting received nationwide coverage earlier this year, after they posted youtube videos showing members confronting supposed suspects.
The group, set up in part by concerned parents, ‘monitors’ the internet by setting up fake profiles of girls aged 12-15 on dating and social networks, exposing the men that approach the ‘girls’.
Letzgo Hunting founder Jamie- formerly nicknamed Scummbuster- told a UK newspaper yesterday that he has no regrets over exposing ‘people who pose a risk to children’.
‘We are convinced this man was a danger to children, that is why we arranged to meet him,’ he explained.
‘Plenty of people we come into contact with only want to talk dirty with our online ‘‘decoys’’ but he wanted to take things further. We feel sorry for his family for the loss of their son but our work will continue.’