Darren Kroupa was a NIN fan who passed away on April 1, 2007. You can see the details on his obituary here.
Darren became well known for NIN fans on two occasions. First, he appeared on a photo on the NIN current page. At the time, nothing was known about him.
Then his name showed up as part of the story on one of the Year Zero ARG websites, Secure Broadcast Informatics, where he was a dissident who organized underground concerts and engaged in other "illegal" activities.
Unfortunately, it was not until the time of his death when the NIN fans knew who Darren Kroupa really was.