Regarding Amber, John and the baby

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Anne

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This is a difficult post to make, but since we've been getting PM's about this from several members, I think it needs to be made.

We usually do not share details about the "behind the scenes" moderation/management acts, out of respect to the privacy of members in question. However, I feel this to be a special case, since so many of you have been emotionally invested in this story.

A recap - a few days ago, a member by the username of CatlessGoatMan, aka John, posted that his fiance, Amber, also a member here, passed away during childbirth, giving birth to her baby girl Kaelyn.

Naturally, many of us have been very upset by this news and became very involved in the story, whether by praying and sending vibes, or even more. It reached the point where offers have been made by members, to send in donations to the baby, and possibly setting up a fund to help him and the baby.

At this point, some inquires were made to verify the story, before moving on to more substantial donations. While John himself would not cooperate with me directly in revealing any personal information, he has shared enough with other members to run some checks. So far, no records have been found to verify the story, following checks in various hospitals in the area and the local morgue

In this day and age, when people have been known to fake deaths and tragedies on internet communities, I felt that we, as a community, should be provided with some evidence. As tragic as this case is, I felt it had to be done. When John was confronted with questions, he asked to step away from the site and apologized for any inconvenience he may have caused. He never commented on the actual data.

I will leave you with these facts to make up your own minds about what has happened. I don't know anything for sure myself, and I guess only CatlessGoatMan has the answers.
 

catloverin_ks

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You know I thought about that from day one, but DID not want to make any accusations. I sure hope that someone would NOT make up that much of a story, but people do crazy things.

Please keep us informed if you can.
 

Moz

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I'm a member on Livejournal and we have had our fair share of fake deaths. But these fake deaths have been made up by members that have just joined the site, and posted a few entries about how ill they were, and usually ends up with a "family member" post and say that the LJ user has died.
But what I don't understand in this case, if it is a "fake death", why would someone become a member of this site for a while, and make so many posts and make friends with other members, then 'die'?
 

white cat lover

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Thank you for letting us know Anne! It would be horrible if the story was made up, but we will likely never know.
 

phenomsmom

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Wow. This is quite shocking. I did myself question the pregnancy in the beginning but pictures were posted and my questions were pushed away in my mind. If this never happened I hope the CatlessGoatMan "John" gets what he deserves for putting such kind giving people through the pain. May he really understand that TCS is a group of caring people who really find friendships in a 'virtual' world.
 

maddensmom

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Anne, thank you so much for bringing this into the public eye! We can never know what goes through some peoples minds.
 

Moz

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Originally Posted by white cat lover

Thank you for letting us know Anne! It would be horrible if the story was made up, but we will likely never know.
Unless of course, someone from/close to Missouri could search around in the obits, local hospitals, etc. and see if this is just (I find this hard to say) fabricated.
 

catloverin_ks

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Originally Posted by Phenomsmom

Wow. This is quite shocking. I did myself question the pregnancy in the beginning but pictures were posted and my questions were pushed away in my mind. If this never happened I hope the CatlessGoatMan "John" gets what he deserves for putting such kind giving people through the pain. May he really understand that TCS is a group of caring people who really find friendships in a 'virtual' world.
Exactly!!
 

maddensmom

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Originally Posted by Moz

Unless of course, someone from/close to Missouri could search around in the obits, local hospitals, etc. and see if this is just (I find this hard to say) fabricated.
As Anne said, someone already has. Theres no records that anyone can find.
 

leto86

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Another forum I am a member of, one of the most popular and well known member faked their death. Had other members help out. All of them were banned in the end.

I personally don't understand why people do this, but when i first saw johns post, it lingered in my mind.
Hope we find out soon.
 

Moz

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Originally Posted by maddensmom

As Anne said, someone already has. Theres no records that anyone can find.
I must have missed that.
Now, I really don't know what to think of this. It just makes me question the validity of online friendships.
 

pinkdaisy226

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Originally Posted by Moz

But what I don't understand in this case, if it is a "fake death", why would someone become a member of this site for a while, and make so many posts and make friends with other members, then 'die'?
For attention? Or, if people were offering donations, probably to get some money out of it?

I'm one of those that didn't trust the whole story, that thought something fishy was up. But I'm a very untrusting person... now I know why. Sad that there are people out there that would do that. Thanks for letting us know Anne.
 

fwan

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It did go through my mind about him faking her death as he seemed to be online a bit too much? And then telling everyone not to send flowers because he is allerig to all of them?

I dont know, i hope they didnt fake it because that would be really cruel.

I know this is going to sound very rude, but if you study the baby picture with ambers mother she isnt crying or grieving at all?
 

rang_27

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I myself am speechless. I did not know either of these members, and it's just so hard to know what to believe. In my head I know people are capable of unimaginable things, but my heart always wants to believe the person is being honest.
 

sicycat

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Meh.. I knew it. Never said anything though.. just to a couple of friends via pm. You cant believe everything you read on the internet unfortunately.
And I found it highly unusual that someone would be so anxious to come back to a cat forum on the internet right after someone so close to them 'passed away' to post about it. I mean, this is a wonderful site, but it would literally be the last thing on my mind if I were in a situation like that.

Good on you and the site for trying to check things out and verify.
 

babyharley

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Thats really sad
A few days after that was posted about Ambers death, I did a search of her name online- usually when you do that, you can find their obituarty/ect. Nothing came up, and I questioned it, but thought there must be a logical explanation for it. Although it was weird how he was online so much at the time of everything, I know I wouldn't be here (no offence to anyone) if my boyfriend/family member had just died

Its really sad when people try to take advantage of other people in a time like that.
 

Moz

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Originally Posted by Leto86

I personally don't understand why people do this, but when i first saw johns post, it lingered in my mind.
Hope we find out soon.
It could have been for popularity, or for drama's sake. Some people just love to stir up drama and get people worked up.
 

fwan

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Originally Posted by maddensmom

As Anne said, someone already has. Theres no records that anyone can find.
but cant they find a record of her giving birth?

What if she didnt use her real name on here?
 

maddensmom

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When you go back and think about it there are a lot of things that didn't add up. It amazes me how cruel people can be nowadays.
 
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