Chelsea and I spoke on the phone yesterday and she admitted to being the person behind the blog Cheecha Kicks Cancer.
She also admitted (during a phone call with me) that she’s been faking cancer in real life since October or November of 2011. Her family and close friends, including her two children who are in the primary custody of their father, all believed that she was in remission from Stage 4 AML.
This morning, Chelsea posted this in the comments of our blog. Her story has changed.
“There’s always two sides to a story. Unfortunately, when a witch hunt has begun against one party involved in said story, it isn’t always something easy to explain. When you’re concerned that you’re going to be verbally bashed and attacked, it doesn’t exactly make you a willing participant in explaining yourself to anyone. Particularly when you know exactly who your attackers are in some cases and you know just how cruel and cutting their words can be. But if they’ve been hurt, you can’t blame them, right? I’m clearly Frankenstein’s monster in this case.
Or am I?
I would like to go on record and state that my name is NOT “Chelsea Hassinger Maxton Graw” to start things off. My name is currently and unfortunately, Chelsea Graw according to the social security administration. Due to just sheer laziness, I haven’t managed to get it changed yet. However, that is neither here, nor there. The point of this post is to, as Taryn mentioned on her blog, clear things up and explain what has gone on. I will respectfully request that anyone attempting to make contact with me or members of my family in regards to this matter cease and desist. None of us will say anything to anyone aside from “no comment” from this point out. Once this is posted, that is all that further this matter will be discussed by any of us as we have much higher priorities in our lives, to be quite frank.
Now, I won’t go on and explain all about how I’ve never done anything wrong in my life or what have you. That’s complete bullshit. I have and I don’t deny that. I apologize sincerely for people who have been hurt or confused or any other emotion when it comes to anything I may have done or said to them. I’m not a perfect person by any means, but neither is anyone else. I have my flaws, I have my quirks, and I have my large list of many mistakes that I have made throughout my 28 years. But I can tell you all now, without any guilt or hesitation, that I have not made the mistake of faking cancer. Now, due to some photographs and the two blogs that were posted, I can absolutely understand people questioning me on this matter. That’s fine. I accept that. But honestly, I have nothing to prove to people that don’t truly impact my life. I know what’s true and what isn’t. My family and loved ones know what is and isn’t true, because they were with me throughout the entire fiasco. If you want proof of that, contact me directly and I’ll consider sending you a copy of the original diagnosis report.
In 2011, I got married to my now ex-husband in early spring. About 2 weeks after we were married, he shipped out to Iraq to begin helping shut down different FOBs as the Army started to pull soldiers out and bring them home. One would think, that as a military officer, that my ex would have been busy with his job and whatever else the US taxpayers expect out of an officer in their military’s ranks, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, I was subjected to being stalked by my own husband. I won’t say that I was perfect and didn’t cause some tension between him and I. I realize it “takes two to tango” or whatever, but what I was dealing with involved this man breaking into my Facebook account on numerous occasions, hacking into my Skype account so he could try to chat up a close friend of mine he was convinced I was cheating on him with, breaking into my AIM chat for Christ only knows what reason – you get the general idea. It was to a point where I was having to change my passwords to ever social network possible on a weekly basis. And let’s not forget when he propositioned my best friend behind my back to have a threesome, during which he told her that he had already discussed the matter with me and I had agreed to it. As this man – who I won’t call out by his name – was clearly one of Taryn’s informants, I feel like it’s vital that there be a better understanding of this man and he not be viewed as some incredible individual simply because he’s an officer in the Army.
Now, we’ll move onto the cancer portion of this.
Yesterday, I did indeed speak with Taryn Harper Wright. She and I had a lengthy discussion about how I should come clean or what have you. She offered me mental health help, was very kind, actually. But as per the request of my attorney – Mr. Brian Ulmer – I did as he requested and played nice and played along with her. I told her what she wanted to hear and in turn, unfortunately, I was unable to find out what I wanted to hear, which was the name of the person who she was using a source. But after a little detective work of my own, that’s been figured out, so no worries. What’s the saying? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. In this case, I’m not calling Taryn my enemy, I am however saying that she attacked me before getting the full story, so at this point, I’m sort of laughing at the fact that she used someone’s opinion as her basis for facts. I know the truth. My family knows the truth. My friends know the truth. Both my family and friends were physically present for my chemotherapry treatments at different times. They watched me go through what I went through. They were present for blood transfusions, lumbar punctures, steroid tamper tantrums, etc. If there is any doubt to this, please contact me at chels.in.wonderland@gmail.com and I’ll be happy to provide further details on this matter for anyone wondering that will put the issue to rest entirely, but for now, I won’t disclose people’s names because I have a respect for privacy. But why do I need to defend myself and my diagnosis to anyone other than the people who matter to me? I don’t. I have bigger concerns in my life right now like getting my SSI, medicare, etc. things situated. Not to mention, my family has gone through more than enough in the past few years. In regards to the diagnosis, before anyone comes at me with “THERE IS NO STAGE FOUR LEUKEMIA, BLAH BLAH BLAH”…no kidding. I never said that. Actually, if the homework had been done correctly, anyone involved directly in my treatment would have told you that every single time I have been asked “What stage is it?” I’ve explained that leukemia isn’t classed in stages. To be honest, that was a question that was a little exhausting to continually be asked over and over.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, after dealing with a slight stalker situation in regards to my ex-husband, I’ve become very careful and very adament about my privacy when it comes to any aspect of my life. So do any of you truly think that I would sit back and just assume that any of my doctors and treatment team would just know not to disclose any of my medical information to people calling about me? Think again. Sorry, but as an “anonymous” poster already pointed out (which Taryn can assure you all that was not me, since the IP address wouldn’t match up to me), HIPAA laws prohibit anyone finding out medical information on a person. It doesn’t matter who you are, you can’t find information out. However, as I’m used to dealing with someone very crafty in breaking into my accounts and other aspects of my life, I anticipated my ex – as did my mother – attempting to get information about me at any angle possible. As such, strict instructions were put in place when it came to ANYONE calling in and asking about my health. I’m not an idiot. If someone calls the outpatient clinic where I recieved consolidation and claims that they’re with a doctor’s office, of course they can find out when my appointments, etc. are scheduled for. So unless you were on a list of my REAL doctors that was kept in my files and medical records, you don’t get any information about me. Sorry. I’ve had enough stalking in my life.
I’ll now address the issue of me apparently taking donations. First things first, you need a bank account to have a PayPal account, am I right? Yes, I am. Do I have one? Nope. Not at all. I’m sure one of you super sleuths will try to work the Googlebooks and find out if I do infact have a PayPal account. I’ll save you the trouble and go ahead and tell you now that I probably do have a PayPal account because I had to make one awhile back to send a payment to someone. That was the first, last, and only time that account was used. It was connected to a USAA account that I no longer even have open. If anyone is curious as to whether or not that is true, then feel free to contact USAA in regards to the matter. But to put that rumor to rest, no, I have never taken, nor have I ever asked for financial assistance. I have never taken nor asked for other forms of assistance, either. Nobody has sent me gifts or flooded me with flowers and endless letters on how much they love me or whatever anyone wants to think. That just didn’t happen. I’ve got my family and the few people I keep close to me and that’s all that matters to me. Nobody and nothing else. I don’t need money. I don’t need anything. I certainly don’t need to explain myself to people who aren’t truly involved in my life, and yet here I am, doing just that.
I will apologize for the confusion of “Chelsea Goldberg” and all the blog dramatics associated with that. However, as nobody was robbed or otherwise harmed, I really feel like there isn’t much need for me to touch on that subject. Realistically, if anything, those blogs raised leukemia awareness in their own ways, so kudos to that aspect, I suppose. Otherwise, they’re just what they were – blogs. Just like Taryn’s blog is a blog. Anyone out there can start a blog and write whatever they feel like. That isn’t a crime. It’s called “Freedom of Speech”. At this point, I’m done with this. If further “investigation” is done into my life, my family, or my loved ones – authorities will be contacted and notified of cyber stalking and it will be handled accordingly. The police have already been given a report simply to get things on file so it’s known about. We’ve had enough. If any of you have questions, you bring them to me. I listed my email above and I’ll list it again:chels.in.wonderland@gmail.com. I’ll be happy to talk to anyone who wants to say that I faked cancer. Hell, if you want, you can give me a call and we’ll chat about it, though I won’t post my number on a public forum. But from here out, I don’t care what is said about me or about my health. As I said, the people in my life WHO MATTER know the truth, I know the truth, and that’s all that matters to me. That’s all that will ever matter to me.”
Cheecha Kicks Cancer is fake. That much we know for sure.
Further investigation into Chelsea Hassinger faking cancer in real life will have to come from the courts.
My objective was to show that the blog wasn’t a true account of a 28 year old twin with six siblings who was dying slowly of cancer. It was not.
if she wasn’t a pathetic lying attention-seeking faker, there would have been no reason to [badly] photoshop and steal pictures. get over yourself “chels”. typical caught in a lie BS in my opinion–give everyone a sob story about how terrible your life has been and then threaten legal action. wah, wah. get off the internet.
I really have no reason to leave a nasty message. However if you use someone else’s photos as your own – it is against copyright laws. That seems insensitive.
I find it just.. heinous.. I mean, it’s bad enough if it’s photos of another person that you have photoshopped your own face onto but someone who actually DID suffer greatly battling cancer? That is just… I have no words.
Opps sorry. Got so carried away forgot I wasn’t reading this on her blog.
Wow. Still lying! I would like to point out that my personal encounter with chelseainwonderland (pretty ironic name, that) had nothing to do with Taryn, the Warrior Eli blog, or anyone in Chelsea’s real life, such as her alleged stalker.. She had a fake profile on Blog for a Cure, with pictures on it which she had stolen from another woman’s blog. I would love to hear her explanation for that. If she actually went through tx, then why didn’t she just use her own pictures? If everything was on the up and up, why did she immediately close her account at BFAC after I sent my concerns to the web owner? STEALING PHOTOS OF A DEAD WOMAN IS NOT FREEDOM OF SPEECH. She is a complete sociopath.
Again, any remarks can be sent to my email and I’m more than happy to provide original documented proof.
So why the stolen photos?
I wouldn’t trust your proof any more than I trust your photos.
Do you remember me, Chelsea? I’m anntg on BFAC. We chatted a bit, up until last November, when you posted that you were basically on your deathbed. Some things seemed strange to me, and as a reference librarian, my first instinct is to do some research. I certainly didn’t want to accuse you of anything until I was sure. What I found online, including the photos you had taken from a dead woman’s blog, made it clear that you were lying about the cancer. I reported you to Jill, and you closed your account. If you really have any sort of cancer, why the stolen pictures? Why the photoshopped pics that Taryn has posted here (it’s interesting…did you quit using the dead lady’s stuff after you got busted at BFAC?)? If you really have cancer, wouldn’t you use your own photos? I wonder if you even remember me, given the many people you’ve been hoaxing over the last few years.
Wow, you seem to recovering from that pancreatectomy rather quickly to be able to respond so “clearly”.
The issue being discussed here has nothing to do with a stalker ex-husband, which you tried to make the main focus of your response. Typical move of trying to divert and gather sympathy. You are preaching to the wrong crowd of readers here on this blog. You have lied, manipulated and taken advantage of well-meaning, kind people. You are worse than your stalker ex-husband, you get no sympathy from us.
Karma is a bitch. Good luck 😉
Why can’t you provide proof here? That was Taryn’s whole purpose in contacting you and giving you the chance to tell your side of things, not to get angry people after you. You blew that chance, and now people from you real life are coming here and confirming that you are a miserable fuck off of the Internet as well.
I guess that is why you have to make up imaginary friends and have them be exclusively on the Internet; you’re so miserable and such a liar in the real world that no one wants to have anything to do with you. So you create imaginary friends to talk to you and defend you online knowing that people who live in your head can’t escape and they always agree with you.
I hope you get some help and that you are able to step away from the computer and make and maintain some human companions. But I doubt you will do this, as you’ve probably set up another fake cancer blog with a new identity on another platform, with freshly stolen pictures from real cancer patients. It’s people like you that keep me from decorating my blog, journal, facebook, tumblr and Flickr with pictures of my treatment and my children. I was targeted by Emily Dirr to steal some of my pictures, but I’ll be damned if I’ll let it happen again.
I guess I’m still a little confused. It says at the top that Chelsea admitted on the phone to faking cancer but in her own words she claims she did not fake cancer and in fact has been really sick? Of course she claims quite a few other things that don’t seem believable. Mostly I’m just curious. It seems like the point was to let her own words show that she isn’t in any way sorry for the pain she’s obviously inflicted on others.
And thank you so much Taryn and your crew for doing such interesting work! I’m absolutely fascinated with every story you unfurl.
She told me on the phone she was faking cancer.
Every picture from the blog that purported to show a medical procedure was stolen from elsewhere online and manipulated to look like it was part of her cancer story.
Friends from her days at hitrecord checked her story when she was accused of faking cancer in real life last year. She was not a patient at the hospital she claimed she was receiving treatment. Others talked to her now ex-husband and he said insurance was never charged for cancer treatments.
Regardless as to whether she is faking in real life, she definitely faked the blog. She took pictures of a real life cancer patient and photoshopped her head onto them. She made up siblings and gained the trust of other people online who were actually sick (and truthful).
Chelsea is a hard person to believe either way. I do think this matter will end up in court on some level, and I stand by what I wrote.
Thank you for the clarification and thank you for the awesome work you do!
I just don’t understand why, if one believes (as Chelsea does) that he/she is completely innocent, your first move after the first Warrior Eli Is a hoax post was to delete ALL of her blogs. That seems so suspicious. If she truly thinks it was just an honest creative outlet and no money was received…why? I don’t get it.
Because she’s obviously lying. If you read the “account” of a person from hitrecord that Taryn linked at the end of the post… everything in it is true.
Oh, I agree. Just trying to poke some more holes in her story.
There’s more than one person who is the ‘source’ of this information because she hurt more than one person with her lies. It’s not some vindictive ex who is slandering her. Even if her ex were crazy and out to get her, that doesn’t disprove the dozens of other accounts of her manipulation.
Also, it was 100% proven that her work on HitRECord was stolen. So between that and stealing pictures of other peoples’ cancer treatment, I don’t see how she can hold onto the delusion that this was a ‘victimless crime’ that ‘raised awareness.’
And EVEN IF by some crazy stroke, she actually DOES have cancer, that still does not excuse lies, deceit, plagiarism and theft.
“Stalker” is the excuse du jour, along with “abuse.” No doubt there are stalkers and abusers, and some fakers who were stalked and abused – but it’s still an excuse. Easy to make. And the fakers are in any case continuing the cycle of (alleged) abuse by using people.
This is oddly reminiscent of things she used to say ages ago to deflect blame. Also, when you call a hospital and ask about a specific patient they are allowed to give one-word statements about condition (e.g., “stable”) or if they are actually a patient there. They allow this for news reports, other family members, insurance, etc. Further, if someone can call into a super private hospital in London and find out about a royal’s condition, finding out if a regular non-royal patient in a public research hospital is actually there is fairly simple.
I mean, the whole thing smells very fishy but that in particular I thought could use some clarification as I’ve actually taken HIPAA courses & have been HIPAA certified. (Source: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/faq/disclosures_to_friends_and_family/483.html)
Oh, and to further clarify, it says if a patient requests no information be given out, you can still call and ask for them by name and all the hospital can tell you is “yes, they are a patient here, but I cannot disclose any other information”, so regardless, someone can find out if someone is an actual patient at a hospital.
Wow. What fucked up hospitals do you know? At mine they specifically tell us not to even tell people that someone’s a patient. *Especially* if they request no information to be given.
Literally all of them in the world that use HIPAA. I linked you to the HIPAA website, maybe you should read up on it, especially if you work in healthcare.
Aw, so cute how you think I don’t know stuff.
HIPAA is related to American healthcare/insurance only. Most countries don’t have insurance-based systems, and have their own national standards/legislation regarding patient confidentiality.
Oh, and don’t let Heather get under your skin. She’s busy drowning in that great Egyptian river, so thoroughly convinced by Chelsea’s pathetic lies that she can’t see straight. I felt sad for her until she started sockpuppeting further down in the comments, along with her bestest friend.
They deserve each other.
Sock puppeting? Wow. Thank you. Even if this is somehow all true, I’m glad to know some of you enjoy attacking a victim. I’m not writing this to defend Chels or shit talk anyone. I’m defending myself here.
Why can’t I have an opinion? Why am I being attacked for being loyal to someone? Yes, I handle things with humor and sarcasm because I’ve done that all my flipping life. I’m not going to apologize for sounding condescending or “pretentious and uneducated” towards anyone. As far as I’m concerned, what I know is the truth and you all are going to tear me down for this? I’m not asking for sympathy or pity, either, so don’t even start. I’d rather be ignored.
You all have no fucking idea how upset I am that I had to delete my fucking blogs. I was helping people. Teenagers and other abuse survivors because they needed someone to talk to and I offered my services. I was helping them avoid suicide and helping them deal with being freaking raped. People needed to talk and I wanted to be there for them.
Now, thanks to this “hoax” – none of them fucking trust me anymore. They believe that I’m either the hoaxer or that I’m promoting fraud. It doesn’t matter how many times its stated that I had nothing to do with this shit – people attacked me violently and I lost good friends I’ve come to know online.
So, thank you, everyone. Thank you so much for bringing my name into the dead center of this shit. There goes my opportunity to help people. You all are just so wonderful.
Now. I’m done here. If you really think that I’m such a terrible person for staying loyal to what I believe the truth to be, then tell me so at lurkinglydia@hotmail.com and leave this site to debates and opinions rather than shit-talk.
Thank you.
Heather, your blog was linked to this hoax because you defended your friend. It wasn’t linked in my blog entries at all. If you’re going to blame anyone for getting you dragged into this, blame Chelsea.
@Boostick – I know, I was exaggerating for effect.
@Heather – You are not being sarcastic, you are being flippant and juvenile at best. None of what has been said has been “shit talk” and has only been reactionary to comments you left first.You have no one to blame but yourself and Chelsea for dragging you into this so if I were you, I’d take a step back and truly evaluate what a friendship with Chelsea is bringing you. My guess is nothing except toxicity and defensiveness.
Heather,
No one made you delete anything. I have been accused of some horrible things on the web, had sickening people gang up on me any try to anon me out, but I’m still here. I’ve had the same URL since 1999. All of my archives are on the server to the blog.
If you had nothing to hide, you would still have your blog. You can also help other abuse survivors on other places on the web: message boards, communities, maybe even another tumblr.
You made a bad choice in deleting your tumblr. It made you look suspicious. But take a deep breath, chill out, and start again. If you really want to help people, you need a thicker skin and a little more determination.
Reader,
Do you believe Tumblr is the only site I help people on? It is not. I do indeed help on other sites. Though, I appreciate your advice/suggestions. I don’t believe I made a bad choice in deleting my blog, because at that point, it didn’t matter. Earlier, I was upset over losing those I had come to know on Tumblr and have helped. They attacked me believing me either a part of “fraud” or to be Chelsea herself. Keeping that blog an receiving redundant messages is not something I’m into. I’ve for that tough skin, just not the patience to wait for the attacks to end because I assumed it would’ve been a while. But I do see how deleting my blog appears suspicious to you all. If anyone would like to make more comments to me, go ahead and send off an email to my lovely lurkinglydia hotmail account. If there is still any doubt that I am real and/or not Chelsea despite the fact that Taryn has made mention of that *twice*, go ahead and email me. I’ll be happy to provide proof.
Nobody here is saying that you’re not real, or that you’re Chelsea, just that the way you’re acting is odd. Despite proof that Chelsea is a fraud you insist that she’s not. You’ve left comments here under various names. Despite zero proof that anyone here has sent messages to you through tumblr, you’re lashing out and hurling accusations.
Nobody made you delete your blog. Nobody’s said that helping/befriending sick people is bad, or that having that abused and exploited by devious, lying individuals like Chelsea is your fault. You’re bound to feel angry and hurt, but you should be lashing out at the person who hurt you, not at Taryn or her commenters. If somebody stole your car while you were asleep would you blame them, or the person who woke you up and said “Hey Heather, your car’s gone”? Would you rant and rave at the police if they found out it was stolen by your best friend?
Chelsea is the car thief in that scenario. Chelsea is the bad person in this one too. A woman so twisted and callous that she’s traumatised her children into needing therapy because they think she’s dying. That’s whose side you should be on, that’s whose corner you should fight, not Chelsea’s. Stop enabling her, you’re not helping her or yourself.
I want LONG-FORM documentation.
So … I’m grandmother to two grandchildren who are 6 and 8. I’m mother to their father, Chelsea’s first husband (who is not the soldier). As a person who was spun round — and comforted my own loved ones as they were spun round. What is Chelsea’s truth? Did she, does she have cancer? Dan the soldier, the second husband, says no. The new fiance says yes. She says her family and friends know the truth. I hope this board understands that I would be foolish to believe anything Chelsea says with our history of hearing years of lies from her. And they were always such convincing lies, creative lies with layers, that duped our family on many occassions from 2005 through 2010. Lies that came well before these cancer stories, lies that back then cost us time, money, and our emotions. And so, did she get us again???
I’m so sorry to hear this. This woman is clearly a master manipulator. The fact that she did this to strangers on the internet is one thing, but her own family, too? It’s unthinkable. I hope you manage to keep the ability to trust people. People like her are rare, thankfully.
I am so sorry for her family and children.
If she did/does have cancer, why would she steal photos from someone else and Photoshop her own face on it? There’s just no logical explanation.
Her weird “I don’t have a PayPal, except when I do” explanation is bizarre.
I married a dangerous, abusive guy as a young and stupid teen too. And yet, I’ve never faked cancer or a cancer blog. A history of abuse doesn’t give you a free pass to emotionally abuse others. And your credibility is just a bit suspect at this point. 😉
Taryn, you are a wonderful person. You only post what you can verify. You give the fakers time to come clean to their loved ones. You encourage them to get help. I totally respect that! Keep outing them, one at a time. 😉
Grandma Gar,
I am so sorry. I truly hope this girl gets her shit together for the sake of her children. Sending lots of love and prayers to you and yours.
Autumn
Chelsea..you yourself called it STAGE 4 several several times,, in your own writing and blogs???? why did you say that?
Hahaha… I just noticed that too!
Taryn, have you seen this original, documented proof Chelsea mentions?
I have not. And, contrary to Chelsea’s claims above, I have never spoken to Dan Graw, her ex-husband.
If anyone DOES get hold of it, please post it here
Lying sociopath is lying. Shocker.
A lawyer that advises his client to admit to something they didn’t do? Chelsea, if you’re reading this, you need a new lawyer.
Free speech means that you have the legal right to make up a pretend family and try to get attention on the internet. It does not mean that you are not a total asshole who should be ashamed of herself. The fact that you have no apparent shame over this is really the saddest, and the most alarming thing about your little essay here. I suppose you’re now busy choosing the format for your next fake cancer blog.
This. I work for lawyers and frankly if the first thing they said wasn’t, “Keep your mouth shut, don’t say anything, we’ll be sending a cease and desist letter immediately,” then I’d be asking for a refund on the retainer. No responsible lawyer advises their client to admit to something they supposedly didn’t do and then post a rambling recant full of holes the next day on the Internet.
Exactly. And any “statement” would likely be done by the attorney.
Best comment so far. It’s not about legalities. It’s about being a human being.
Dang. My heart breaks reading this; because i was cheering for you Chelsea. I was hoping you’d confess and drop all lies. I was hoping to hear your real story. Everyone has a story of there own and we cannot create our own. I to covered my real story with lies. Lies that Barried me and hurt me for two years. And it wasn’t until taryn outed my lies did I relieze how much I Barried myself. I know how hurtful every comment people can make can be. How they see you as a monster. But they don’t know that you feel like a monster. That you don’t know how to live without the lies. But you can. And slowly you find people who want to be here for you in your real life. Throw this rock of lies away. Let people try to trust you again. It will help.
Not sure who this is, but just wanted to say thank you for speaking out and giving hope. <3
xoxoxo
I LOVE this comment! And I am soo happy for you Team player!!!
I am really dissapointed that Chelsea is trying to justify her actions, is still unable to tell the truth to save her own skin and does not seem to have one shred of remorse.
I hope it does go to the courts and they throw the book at her.
And coming from someone here who HAS been severely stalked and abused – it happens to millions (unfortunately) and most of us do NOT use that as an excuse to go and hurt other people lying left and right as this woman has done. Not impressed. Disgusted.
I am truly confused.. She states she did have cancer but admitted she did not have cancer? Says she will provide proof, but I have seen none. She is openly asking people to send her messages, but threatening to sic the authorities on them if they contact her.. WTF is this chick’s deal? I am sorry to those she has hurt and I hope you find the owner of the photo’s she stole and used as her own so that she can truly pay for what she did. Thanks Taryn, another job well done.
Seriously, the whole “explanation” is very…contradicting. More than anything, I’m sure she’s embarrassed she’s been caught, hence the “please leave my family alone,” statement.
Maybe in the future, recording phone calls is the way to go. Very hard to argue with a recording.
Unfortunately in my state, taping phone calls without consent of both parties is illegal.
Ahh, that’s a shame. Some people might consent to recordings, but definitely not all.
Taryn, I’m interested to know if the owners of the stolen and altered photos are aware, and what their reactions are, if they intend to prosecute if they are able to?
There are no charges that can be filed for taking other people’s pictures. I haven’t heard from the young cancer survivor whose pictures were stolen by Chelsea Hassinger, photoshopped with her face, altered to remove the color and cropped so they would be difficult to identify on Google Image search, but I hope to hear from her soon.
Thank you. One positive, it sounds like the lady in the pictures is still alive – I am so glad to hear that and I hope she’s a lot better than she was when they were taken.
Wow this girl is pure crazy on so many levels. Obviously a compulsive attention seeker. I feel so sorry for her children. I’m glad their father as custody (prob cause shes certifiably nuts). To their grandmother I’m so sorry u have had to deal with her lies for so long. I hope ur grandchildren r NOT affected by her lies and I pray they have no contact with her at all! Chels – it’s time to get out of wonderland and wake up to reality sweetie – u don’t have cancer, that was not u in those phony pics, u do not have a twin or 6 siblings who care about u. You’ve a lonely girl who needs serious psychiatric treatment. I hope u get it and r able to find the help u so desperately need so that u could . Possibly reconnect with ur real family or form real bonds with real people who will care about You. Good luck.
If you’re done talking with people about this then why hand out your email?
Why did you say on your blogs you had Stage-4 AML?
Scammy scammy scam scam.
What about this “constantlywriting.tumblr.com” person? Her blog has been deactivated too…
“Constantly Writing” is not Chelsea. She is a long-time online friend of Chelsea’s who is standing by her stories.
But this poor girl still believes her? Man, that’s so sad. Like, genuinely upsetting that they were such long time friends and Chelsea was lying the whole time.. Have you been in contact with “Constantly Writing”, Taryn? And also, have you been back in contact with Chelsea since she seemed to change her story so much from the phone call to the comment above? I’m just…I can’t believe it, and I have so many questions.. Thanks, though, Taryn!
I have been in contact with CW and she asked me not to email her again. I hope she is okay and I am concerned for her. This would be a lot to take in for anyone.
I will not have any more contact with Chelsea. I don’t like it when people threaten me 🙂
No, that’s understandable. Just leave it now, if she’s gonna go all psycho and threatening. I know that’s what I’m gonna do, even though I’m so confused as I’d become invested in her story, and I’m pretty angry at myself for buying all this shit. I hope CW is okay too, and sees the truth for what it is. Thanks though, for everything, Taryn!
Oh, by God. Quit acting like the world has fallen for me. I’m doing perfectly fine. I’m pretty pissed off that I had to delete my blog due to assholes sending obnoxious hate mail as though I’m somehow promoting fraud. Ridiculous.
I’m still standing by Chelsea, darlings. None of your comments are going to change that.
I know no one can change your mind, and if you choose to stick with her, that’s your choice. We certainly can’t tell you how to live your life, and no one here(well…hopefully, most) is really honestly trying to attack you. You certainly don’t deserve anon hate or scrutiny.
How old are you, Heather? You sound very young. It’s sad that you’ve been duped by Chelsea (who I suspect is older than you), but I’m sure you’ll be fine. It’s a hard lesson to learn about the online world, but one that everyone has to face at some point. I think you should keep your blog up, FWIW. People will move on eventually, especially since Taryn has made it clear that you are not Chelsea.
While I don’t quite understand your devotion to Chelsea, you certainly didn’t deserve the hate anons you received on Tumblr. In the future, may I suggest that you turn off your Ask Box? Or at the least, turn off anon. People are always less likely to say shit when they can’t be anonymous.
online friend??
Interesting.
okay – so according to the blog, Chelsea you just had your pancreas removed.
How are you able to talk to Taryn? Were you talking to her from the hospital? I mean, you “had your pancreas removed.” Most people stay in the hospital 3-10 days after this operation. Did you really rebound this quickly? What gives?
Have you not read the blog? She’s an inpatient. So yes, she’d be calling from a hospital.
Except she was calling from her place in Georgia, Heather.
Except she was calling from her place in Georgia, Heather.
Aww, so adorable! It’s so cute that you still believe the psycho liar.
My comment above was for Heather btw.
Aww, I love the anonymous hate. Makes me feel so special.
Nobody is hating on you, Heather. People are concerned that you’re refusing to see logic in this case.
So sorry this happened to you Heather and that all of the hate from this was sent over to your blog! There are some other people that need to be and will be called out soon too as to there own credibility in this case and others is being questioned! Keep your head held high!
Her two children will get off the school bus soon and come in my door, where I’ll be expected to read books, draw, or put puzzles together as if it’s a normal day until their step mom gets off work and comes to get them. And stepmom? – the grandkids greet her with hugs and leaps of joy; she loves them, nurtures them and has been with them longer than Chels ever was. Their daddy will hurry to their home from working his 10 am to 8 pm shift, to see them before bedtime. He’ll be expected to kneel by their beds and say prayers with them, asking God to cure mommy-Chels of her cancer. We remain dumbfounded. Lying like this is NOT a victimless crime.
Perhaps the prayer can be changed to cure her of her illness. She has an illness, there is not denying that.
*no denying, I meant.
and to be clear, I think Patti means a mental illness. (Just in case someone gets confused about what type of illness)
That is terrible. I have cancer and grown children (well, 19 and 22…mostly grown?) and I can’t imagine putting them through the emotional roller coaster they had to ride for no reason. It’s one thing to fake it online…and it’s not victimless, but I think people should have their guard up a little more with anyone online. Children? Wow.
Does Chelsea pay child support? She should, you know. (just saying.) Even if it’s only $50 a month, she should pay SOMETHING. It’s not fair to any custodial parent to bear the costs alone.
Grandma Gar-this is a terrible situation. As a mom with cancer myself, I cannot imagine subjecting my kids to the terrible pain of believing I had cancer when I didn’t. I really hope someone can get her some help, as she is truly a sick woman, just not with cancer. This is just heartbreaking to me.
So glad the kids have a stable father and two loving women to care for them. I hope they are protected from the emotionally manipulative pathological liar. Poor kids. They deserve more!
I second what Lerin said.
It’s easy to forget how terrible people can be in the world. She is clearly sick and needs some serious mental attention.
I have friends that I met online. I believe that they are, generally, honest. I don’t think it’s crazy to have online friends in this day and age-the world has changed. However, I have not yet encountered an online friend who is a lying liar who lies. I guess most people have lives-real lives-that are interesting or boring enough without invented drama.
Chelsea said she is applying for SSI. It is extremely difficult to get SSI for cancer, since generally cancer treatment lasts less than a year and, except for in exceptional cases, doesn’t cause a disability. SSI is for disabilities projected to last longer than a year. I do believe she is applying, as she doesn’t appear to have any source of employment and is currently divorced. I would also think it would be difficult for her to hold full time employment, since she appears to be a compulsive liar. I don’t know if they have SSI for that, but she could fall into a plethora of mental illness Axises.
Finally, I think Chelsea could well be faking cancer in real life, too. If her family is in another state and doesn’t have much to do with her, it wouldn’t be hard to fake.
I’m sorry, but as a 2-time cancer patient I take MAJOR offense to this comment. You CAN get SSI for cancer, as WELL as disability. There is no “generally” when it comes to cancer. There are dozens upon dozens of cancer drugs and every person reacts to them differently, which often leads to the patient being unable to hold a job. It is not a simple objective treatment. Also, in this day and age, many people are diagnosed with cancer while they are unemployed (which is what happened to me). You can get temporary disability on a federal level, and in many states (NY, in my case) they will grant you SSI during the period in which your Social Security application is being processed (usually 4-6 months). These are things that (real) cancer patients should be taking advantage of at any age, because you NEVER know how much your immune system will be compromised from chemotherapy…. “generally” my ass — cancer treatment is an absolute crapshoot!
This has nothing to do with Chelsea or her statements about SSI. PLEASE people… don’t run your mouth about these things unless you’ve been through this before. CANCER PATIENTS ARE READING THIS THREAT AND FOLLOWING IT CLOSELY! You’re only hurting people by spreading mis-information!
I have cancer. I was told this by the Social Security office when I asked if there was anything I could do because I was going to be unable to work for six months. This is what I was told–“in general, cancer is not disabling for years.” I wasn’t even able to get state assistance because I was not disabled enough. I certainly hope I won’t be disabled for years…so far, my treatment has gone better than expected…but I am not sending out misinformation intentionally. I was told to not even bother applying unless I had more wrong with me. Thankfully, I do not.
I don’t live in NY, they might have a special program. I am just “on my own” until treatment is completed and I can return to work.
SSI may be more giving in NY, but I’ve been in federal disability for the duration of my treatments. I applied before I even started radiation or chemo and before any surgeries. Typically, temporary disability takes 4-8 months to kick in, but the person I spoke to on the phone said “when they see a case like cancer, that application tends to get rushed to the top of the pile”. And it did. Even if someone says no, it’s INSANE not to at least apply for it! It’s the totally wrong attitude to have. If you can’t work, then APPLY APPLY APPLY!! Even if you’re denied, then APPLY AGAIN! If you’re approved then you’ll receive back pay dating back to the time of your FIRST APPLICATION!
The key word is TEMPORARY disability. Most states have a fund for it, and the federal gov’t definitely grants it. I’ve never applied for permanent disability, but my guess is that temporary disability is easier to get on.
Sorry to be so adamant about this… It’s only because I know how cancer WRECKS FAMILIES, not just one person’s body. I’m stuck under a pile of student loan debt, and my credit would have been destroyed if not for disability. And I’m STILL getting by at the skin of my teeth. I’m so thankful I’m not charged with supporting a family or anything like that, because I’d be totally incapable of providing.
Patients need to communicate about these issues… with EVERYONE. Other patients, doctors, social workers… I’m sure it’s all within reach, you just have to talk to people and get your information from as many sources as possible. Have we not learned anything from this whole fiasco? DON’T BELIEVE IT UNTIL IT’S IN YOUR HANDS AND RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU! And you should STILL ask questions after THAT happens!
**drops microphone**
I’m a cancer patient as well. Because I have metastatic disease, I basically got to cut to the head of the line, and was approved for SSD within four months. It also paid back one year because I had been out of work for a while. I have not known another person with cancer receive long-term disability without being metastatic/stage 4, but if you do have advanced disease, you are likely to get approved. Chelsea would have to provide access to her medical records to get approval. I have no idea why anyone would feel the need to SHOUT IN CAPITAL LETTERS about this.
There have been a number of cancer hoaxers in the news who fooled their own families, as well as people online. Even in cases where the family lived in the same town. And I think there was one case here on this blog in which the mother of the hoaxer was participating in the hoax.
That happened last here around where I live-I remember seeing an ad for a fundraiser/benefit for a woman who had cancer in my local Penny Saver type paper,, and just days later she was arrested for fraud. She lied about having breast cancer to get money, and as far as I know, her husband had no idea. He thought she really did. She even forged documents to try and prove she had cancer, and invented an oncologist that didn’t even exist.
whhop, “happened last *year” is what I meant, there.
Cara Goodman.
The archives here are gone, but just Google “Cara Goodman cancer fake” and a couple of tumblrs should pop up (Alaska-says-sun – her original blog, locked down by a friend who discovered her lies, and locked the blog so Cara couldn’t delete or alter it. And Answers About/On Cara). Both are good sources for answers and do an excellent job of documenting her story.
What does this have to do with the current story?
I’m curious if anyone has contacted Brian Ulmer to see if he is her attorney. His advice to “just go along with it” seems strange.
So glad to hear the kids have such loving caring parents and grandmother. (I refer to their stepmother as their parent as she is their true mother!) It’s a shame though – Chelsea doesn’t deserve their prayers right now. I didn’t realize before that they also think she has cancer!!!! Talk about victims!!!! Can someone explain to them that their mother doesn’t really have cancer ? This woman is just truly a sick individual. I’m pretty sure she believes her own lies. U don’t have to answer but was wondering why she doesn’t have custody? Is it from the past lying? I would think it to be more than that? Regardless I hope she never gets custody again.
I also feel really bad for Heather. She’s another victim also and will realize this one day. SAD
Not sure if the Chelsea bassinet on fb is her? Cause that girl looks GOOd and has a nice head of blonde hair! If that’s a real picture too of course! If it is – she’s a pretty girl.
Oops hassinger – stupid auto correct!
This girl also looks ‘ REALLY young
Chelsea deleted her Facebook profile yesterday, so this is not her.
In regards to HIPAA I need to point out some inadequacies.
I am a Social Worker, I (intern and work) through a rehabilitation center. We generally get our clients after they have been hospitalized for substance abuse or mental health disorders. Along the long list of things that I do for my clients, one of this is calling and setting them up with medical assistance (and there are MANY different forms of medical assistance). In reguards to HIPAA, when an insurance calls our clinic, the information I can release is “Yes, John Doe is a client here.” however I am not, legally, able to release any other information regarding the client such as any information the client has shared with us, any information ABOUT the client or their medical history, etc. However, there are times when probation office calls us in regards to someone being arrested that may be a client in our clinic. I am allowed, by law and HIPAA, to inform them that yes, that client goes to this clinic, and no, I can’t release any information outside of that.
HIPAA is not different from state to state, while some medical places may be more strict, (my place of employment is VERY strict), names can be released if asked. That part of the story is very likely to be made up or exaggerated. While each person is different (and some people release much more information than they -should-) if you were to call a hospital and ask if someone is currently residing there, they can legally share that they are currently a patient there. (but this also depends if this is a major hospital or if she currently admitted-if she is not currently staying there/admitted they wouldn’t have it on file that she is currently staying there or a patient. Since she just had surgery and is supposedly there now, if you were to call you could likely get a yes or no if she is residing there).
As far as this whole mess goes, I’ve learned my lesson with trusting people on tumblr, while I still have some people I trust and call my friends, I am going to be a little more cautious with who I share my information with. It also makes me wary of writing about my own healthy journey in my tumblr. While it might not be cancer or anything serious like that, who knows what sicko might steal my pictures and story for their own personal gain?
I like how she tries to play it off like no one was hurt. As someone that actually went to her home and spent two weeks with her after she started “chemo”, she had to do a lot of acting to really pull this off. It was definitely not just a bunch of people online rooting for her to get better across multiple websites. There was a group of us that made an effort to be with her in her time of need, some of us flying across the country to be by her side for support. Real money and time invested for someone that was faking a disease.
In regards to her ex, I believe her in part that Dan was a bit of a control freak to some extent because I watched him berate her off and on for a week via chats. But I know that he only ratted her out to people that went to the home they shared in NC for the holiday, so her accusing him of coming here to smear her name is BS. She made reference in her letter about him threatening to shoot us, yet at the time that we were at her house the only threat he ever made was via Skype chat to have the cops come by because we were trespassing in his home without him having knowledge that we were staying there (which never happened by the way.) Now that I look back on it, I can see why he was pissed off to some extent. I can also see why whenever she was on actual Skype calls with him, she would request all of us be out of the room so “he wouldn’t know we were there.”
Personally I’m over what was said and done by her over the week that we stayed at her house. I’m glad that I have other fonder memories of spending time with friends that were there because it helped ease the blow for me that she lied about a lot of things to a lot of people. I’m just sorry that more folks online, whether supporters or actual people with cancer, were looking to her for hope or to give her emotional support only to find out that she’s a compulsive liar with a really desperate need for attention.
I don’t think this is the last we’ll see of her.
Freedom of Speech does not mean freedom from repercussion. You can say whatever the hell you like but there’s no circumstance where people are barred from forming opinion or calling you out on your ‘speech’ being made up of crap. Other people’s freedom of speech isn’t prohibited by yours. So enjoy their freedom of speech. And fire your lawyer, because any lawyer who would advise a client to lie is more than lacking in knowledge and ethics.
(p.s. I don’t really believe you talked to a lawyer about what to say to Taryn before she called. I’m just kidding.)
She mentions several times that she has no time or care for people who are not her family…then why right such a long post if you don’t care?!?
Right? Or why even bother to delete your blogs or even explain at all? If you weren’t being untruthful, you would have no reason to have to explain yourself, point blank.
I know Chelsea’s ex husband, Dan Graw. He was a friend of mine since we were kids. ‘WAS’ being the key word there. He is crazy…but so is Chelsea! She IS lying about cancer! She is originally from Selinsgrove, PA. This girl has been in jail for forging signatures on checks, at one point she was a stripper, and I’m pretty sure she lots custody of her 2 boys a some point along the way. This girl is the scum of the earth. Friends of our told us Dan followed her to one of her supposed hospital visits, and she got out of her car, then got in the backseat and played on her laptop for an hour, then got back in the passengers seat and drove home.
I wish I had more concrete information for you, but I don’t. But if anything I said is something you want to discuss further, let me know and I will email you. People like her make me SICK.
…. I live really close to there, wow!! I wonder if I know anyone who actually knows her!
her ‘real’ self.
Being a stripper doesn’t make someone scum. I’m guessing you’re using it in a lump sum for context of the chick’s life, but in and of itself, there’s nothing wrong with it.
She graduated from Selinsgrove High school 2002.
Wow. This is just turning into a witch hunt now.
Yeah, this is getting a wee bit ridiculous. We already know she’s lying, let this unfold as it will. I don’t see why bringing up where she lived/where she went to school or what she did as a living at one point (so what if she stripped?) has to do with what she did regarding the cancer scam.
The person behind this blog LOVES the attention her stories bring. She loves loves loves it. Her snide comments back to everyone on here and her other pages are mean to say the least , just reading her responses back with her winking smilies and sarcastic comments as everyone rushes to bash the people featured in these blogs is gross. What you do is good but why? Does she have a job and a life of her own? She will say until she is blue that she is doing this to out others and make things right but that is what some believe might the biggest lie. Interested to see a blog post about how this blog got started and why. Not about the hoax that started it, about the almost obsession with these people that this blogger has. Was she a faker herself and is feeling guilty? Personally hurt to the point where her life now is devoted to outing everyone she can? Please explain because this site is fishy in itself.
And everyone will say YOU DONT OWE ANYONE AN EXPLANATION YOU ARE AMAZING EVERYTHING YOU DO IS AMAZING. Which is why a post should be made setting things straight about yourself. You are leading hundreds of people with your blog…. let people know who you actually are and why you do what you do. Why you feel the need to go into peoples lives and devote so much time to hunting people down and investigating and in some cases harass them as well over email and phone. Don’t try to say “because someone needs to!” or “because the truth needs to come out”. Tell everyone why you personally do this. You teach everyone not to take anything for face value or believe what you read or see on here. So why should we believe anything you say or share? What sets you apart from everyone else?
Dont blame heather for asking you to not contact her anymore. You sent so many haters to her page and now its gone, wether you want to admit it or not that was your fault because of this blog. Sure say it is the hoaxers fault for lying in the first place, or then you’d never say this right? But you are the one with the site that exposes. You expose in a way that isn’t helpful but hurtful. Read through the nasty comments on your website then try to sit back and say you are doing good. These comments cannot be helping the people you claim you are giving favors to to help them get better. All any of these comments are is saying how horrible these people are. People have a right to be angry and upset but if all you want to do is expose then shut off comments and delete comments that contain personal info. IF this is all for the good of these people and trying to get them help then remove the garbage that isnt helpful. But you won’t because half of your fun is reading everyones nasty reactions.
My comments aren’t meant to be snide, and I do apologize if they’re interpreted that way. I was completely blindsided by Chelsea’s comments this morning that I posted on the blog. I spent an hour on the phone with her, listening to her cry and call herself a terrible person. I researched doctors and therapists in her area, at her request. I emailed back and forth with her and assured her that she could move on from this. Then, today, I find out that I’ve been used as another person she lies to to get what she wants.
I genuinely do care about the people who have been on this blog, and I consider most of them my friends now. I hoped to include Chelsea in that group, and I genuinely hope she gets help.
Wow, this rant below is so OBVIOUSLY Chelsea it’s pathetic. Do you really think you are pulling anything over on anyone anymore? Your not. You fail. Game Over. Get help. Now.
There’s a lot of sites that deal with exposing fakes…the livejournal community has had several for many, many years and many started because someone was conned and wanted to bring awareness to scammers.
I honestly see nothing fishy about this site, I think Taryn wanted to warn people about those featured. Some commenters can be harsh, but some have also been conned in the past and I can’t blame them for being upset when someone is exposed. Taryn has demonstrated a level head and offered help in these cases, she’s not being rude, IMO
Uh…Taryn is pretty much out in the open, ANONYMOUS. She’s been on TV and radio talking about what she does. She isn’t hiding, ANONYMOUS, like some people we could mention. I’ve been a supporter of Taryn’s since the beginning, and do you know why? Because I have cancer. Because I have been fooled by these hoaxers myself (including Chelsea). Because this kind of behavior is not a victim-less crime, even when money is not involved. Every single person she has has profiled here is an actual hoaxer. No one has turned out to be an innocent victim, and that is because Taryn is very careful about how she approaches things. She is helping to make the internet a safer place for others, ANONYMOUS. How about you tell us who YOU are, and how you are improving the world around you?
It’s funny what happens when people tell lies and they catch up to them, right Chels?
It’s funny when you keep saying I am on here to right everything. And act like a God above everyone but one day the run will be pulled out from under you as well. These people did terrible horrible things but don’t act like God or think you are better then everyone else. You love to hear how great you are and get recognition for what you do more then actually what you do. That is continuously displayed with your interviews, TV appearances, and just reading the way you comment to the people you are claiming you help. Is saying something sarcastic to Chels and those still be tricked really helping?
If you read “Anonymous’s” post below, you’ll see she refers to Chelsea as “Chels”. Seems like something someone close to her would call her…not something a a complete stranger would call her. Or maybe it’s something she would call herself mayhaps?
Whatever the case may be, don’t let her bully you, Warriorelihoax. People that are sick like this have a way of deflecting the blame onto someone else, and you aren’t doing anything but exposing the truth!
Lol, a witch hunt, agreed. Seems like everyone is a step away from grabbing torches and pitchforks.
“Please explain because this site is fishy in itself. ”
Yeah, this is probably her. Look how voraciously JEALOUS she is of the positive attention the author gets. No one thinks this site is fishy except the liars, the fakers, and the sad teenagers they draw in from Tubmlr. Nice try acting like any us reside in your reality, Chelsea!
How is it a witch hunt? There is tons of evidence against this girl. Many people in this area know her and her and previous lies and scams. It will only be a matter of time until this all unfolds. I hope she is brought to justice. Honestly, she is sick. There has o be something psychologically wrong with someone to do something THIS crazy.
It’s less of a witch hunt and more of a “This is Your Life” type experience, in my opinion.
It’s so wonderful how much you are enjoying this. It’s one thing to point out a scam, but now you are just goading. That’s ridiculous.
I am not at all enjoying this, Heather. I don’t enjoy being lied to and threatened.
Nor do you seem to enjoy opinions that counter yours.
When 40000 facts are presented and someone’s counterargument is “aww, sweetie. You’re cute,” I find that a bit repetitive, I’ll admit that.
40000, what a number.
Though I agree there’s something definitely wrong with her and this cancer scan probably runs deeper than she’s letting on, I just don’t like that the fact “I think she was a stripper” was brought up, just my opinion. I honestly don’t think someone in that profession automatically means that there’s something wrong with them or that they’re shady/distrustful/”trashy.” If anything? I think Chelsea gives them a bad name.
Agreed. I know some awesome strippers and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the profession.
Or should I have said, “You’re” sick, Chelsea. 😉 Can’t trick a trickster.
I knew people were going to latch on to the fact that I said I thought she was a stripper at one point. Did you all miss the part about the CHECK FRAUD?! She went to JAIL for this. She has a history of criminal behavior…and she is now pretending to have cancer. Lets not nit pick….she’s trash, and this shit needs to stop!
Oh no, I didn’t miss it, I’m not saying that automatically puts her in the clear, she’s definitely got quite the interesting and colorful background. But lets not give strippers a bad name, here. 😉
Anonymous ur not fooling anyone. Seriously GET HELP u have serious serious mental issues. If not for yourself do it for ur children! I can’t believe she even had ppl come stay at her house! I first thought this was just an internet scam which is one thing but to deceive ur family, friends and children is just beyond sick!!!! I think u might seriously be the sickest most disgusting poor excuse for a human being that I ever heard of.. one day something really bad will happen to u and no . One will believe u. U know what karma is! And it will find u!
K, I assure you, I am not Chelsea. I agree with you that she needs help.
Ok fine ur not Chelsea. Then ur definitely the poor brainwashed girl Heather. One day you’ll see Chelsea for the mentally unstable manipulative narcissist that she is. I just pray for ur sake that it’s sooner than later!
…no, I’m not Heather, either. I simply don’t see what stripping has to do with this. Chelsea has had quite a life, full of lies, and I do hope she gets help. I just don’t understand what stripping has to do with the story?
Please tell me that someone has notified her local authorities about this situation. It certainly sounds like there are instances in which she has defrauded people out of money with this scam. I think it would be good for her to suffer some tangible consequences for her despicable actions, outside of being publicly outed and having to close down shop for the time being, only to inevitably resume her deceptions at another place and time.
Grandma Gar, I’m removing that link for Chelsea’s privacy, even though any information about previous court cases is public record. I hope you understand.
Why protect her though? She didn’t care about a dead woman and her family?
Sounds like she’s just using the name of the attorney who worked on her case back in 2003
I’m sorry if that link was inappropriate. My instinct was to give proof that “L” was telling the truth.
Wow, this is the most pathetic denial I think that you guys have posted yet!
Look at all the “I”s in her creepy statement! The obvious sign of a narcissist. Chelsea, you are older than me. Get your life together, find some counseling and learn to live in the truth. Stop trying to live off others. It looks like you first tried to be a base rat and when that didn’t work out, you turned to being a straight up con. When you are mentally healthy you will see how insanely delusional that statement above reads. Normal people, who live in their TRUTH, don’t have to qualify everything in their life story with some pitiful dramatics. Get your shit together so your kids can know you! Let them know a real person who can be proud of herself!
I was going to respond to your last comment, ycc78, when you pointed out the voracious jealousy, that this is textbook malignant narcissism.
I like that questions about the authenticity and background of /this/ blog only came about from her after she was brought to light, but she didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with it when terminal-chronicles was outed. “Hey thanks for bringing down that scammer-wait, you discovered I’m lying too? Welp, then JEEZ, OBVIOUSLY YOU’RE A SCAMMER AS WELL.”
If Chelsea would just come clean about what she’s doing, she could get tons of positive attention without having to lie! The topic of online fakers has a huge captive audience due to the Manti Teohoax, and the film/show “Catfish.” If she got help, and blogged/spoke about it, I’m certain would get just as much attention for it. Cancer blogs are plentiful, blogs about munchausens by internet are not.
Almost every faker has defaulted to the “errebody makes mistakes” defense (and has thrown in the old “let he who is without sin” chestnut for good measure) as though that absolves them of any accountability for wrongdoing. It’s a given that nobody is perfect, but not everybody leeches time, resources, and emotional energy from a vulnerable population by pretending to have a terminal illness.
I agree that Chelsea is in desperate need for some mental help… she’s clearly in another world.
However, I agree with Chelsea and Heather or whomever… some of the comments in these threads can be absolutely hateful and counter-productive. I’m not saying that we should all sit down with Chelsea (or any of the others) and sing a happy song, but there is no reason that any of us should sink to that level and start cyber-bullying ANYONE. How does that make us any better than them? Taryn and her crew are doing great work exposing the people behind these emotionally charged hoaxes, but I get the feeling that they don’t do it to encourage bullying. Please, guys, show a little more respect and humanity in these comments. We are better than this.
Great post!
I am the kids father. I have been reluctant to speak out however I want to comment on some of the things i’ve read here. There is a pattern of these behaviors dating back prior to her and I getting together that I will not talk about. This is in no ways to bash Chels, only give some insight from my end.
It’s hard to handle when your kids ask why doesn’t mommy want us, why doesn’t she call or come get us, why doesn’t mommy love us. Then we have to come up with excuses to tell the kids so they don’t feel this way and at the same time don’t get a bad impression of their mother.
I take My son 6 to a psych, nuerologist, and he recieves support in school for some of the things she had done to him in the past and cope with the past 3 1/2 years of her not seeing them and also the cancer.
My daughter 8 has been in counseling since we found out about Chels’ cancer. This was to help us to explain it to her and also help her cope with this and the other abandonment issues. Now do I have to take her to counseling for the complete opposite? I don’t plan to because at their age I believe it better for them to just think mommy got cancer treatments and has gone into remission but lives out of state so that’s why she can’t come around much.
Chelsea has deferred child support payments since she was first “diagnosed”. She is scheduled to pay 220mo for the pair not each and she was already $5500 in arrears prior to her supposed diagnosis. Also she has never supplied the proper documentation to Domestic Relations that our caseworker has requested several times. There has always been excuses made to him why she couldn’t provide them.
Again I am not trying to bash Chels. My family and I have hoped for years that she would get the help she needs for these issues.
I am a mom and this just hurts my heart! Glad those sweet little ones have you!!!
Brady-I’m very sorry that you and your children have to go through this. I have three kids, and watching them struggle with my illness has been heart-breaking. It makes me very sad that Chelsea has put your kids through something like this when it wasn’t necessary. It sounds like you are doing a good job taking care of them in a difficult situation, and I applaud you for that.
She needs mental help. Everyone bashing her on here is not going to help. I’ve never witnessed such a large group of self righteous, judgemental maniacs.. Everyone on here has demons or skeletons and let’s hope no one decides to air them on the Internet someday…..I’m guessing no one wants that to start…. No one deserves this. Chelsea needs to seek some sort of help…but this has become abusive and if anyone in their right mind thinks ganging up on someone like this is helping, you are all delusional! Anyone can spend $29.99 and start running background checks on people too….maybe that can be my new hobby since everyone thinks this is so much fun to RUIN someone’s life even worse. Chelsea doesn’t need help making a mess of her life…she needs help getting it together. Nothing on this blog will do that.
Chelsea ruined her own life. Projecting blame on people who are hoping Chelsea gets help, while exposing Chelsea’s lies that have hurt other people, is unproductive. Chelsea has deceived a lot of people over the years and they deserve explanations and answers, which people are trying to provide here. No one, for the most part, is bashing her or acting self-righteous. If anything, Chelsea is acting self-righteous with her narcissistic, self-victimizing recant that is posted here.
This blog is helping her, though. Having her lies exposed shows that she can’t always get away with falsifying things and lying to people and admitting to yourself that you are in the wrong and need help is the first step in seeking help. Chelsea has thus far failed to even reach that tiny milestone by changing her stories over and over and creating a mess of lies and half-truths and sob stories. Additionally, as far as I am aware, no background check was required to find Chelsea. She served herself up on a silver platter to be exposed by reblogging another hoax from Warrior Eli Hoax and ranting about how shitty hoaxers are.
Finally, not everyone has demons as dark as these or skeletons as numerous in their closets. Trying to humanize Chelsea’s widespread lies by saying it isn’t that bad, everyone lies, is unhelpful and dismissive.
ENOUGH. Read your own words. Chelsea ruined her OWN life…her life is not yours. Not anyones on this page. This group claims to be helpful, but everything written within these comments is anything but.S he has been outted, her lies exposed, no mean and vicious comments after the fact are going to help “punish” her any further.
This blog is helping her? I’m sure coming on here and reading the same hateful thing over and over is not helping her or anyone at all. The blog posted about her, exposed her, let everyone know the truth and that should be as far as it goes. The comments on this page should be turned OFF. If this blog truly is in it to help people…to reach out to these people who are hurting themselves and others through these things …then none of this would ever be allowed. Of course she isn’t going to come on here all happy and go lucky, I would not either if everything I read was pure evil, almost as bad as what she has done. This is not the type of community or group that seems to be open and willing to actually change these peoples lives. It’s more of a group that enjoys to write nasty comments and say over and over again how horrible of a person each and every faker is.
You are not God and neither is this blog author. You are also not helping by continuing to say the same thing over and over again. Everyone knows what she has done, she knows, it’s called move forward not continue to wallow in someone else’s problems and drama. She has been called out, what more do you want? You may not ever get an apology or confession, move on with your own life.
This continues to be ignored but I am not the only one to bring it up. Who runs this blog? It is said time and time again that “we” are working on it. Who is we? This blog is doing some pretty serious things, outting people and exposing any part of there personal life when it’s not being done by them is a serious matter. Wether they are faking cancer or just living an ordinary life. If you came across a blog that had your information splashed across it I promise you, you would have a problem with it. The “people” or person behind this blog needs to show there own credibility before continuing to do this. Why should we trust what is said here against anyone else’s word. Don’t talk about your reputation on posting on this free blog site or on a Facebook page. What are the credentials that you hold to be doing this kind of investigations. If these people are truly scam artists or doing things that are illegal the police or someone who is legally able to investigate people should be doing this work. A lot of time must be spent making phone calls, looking into peoples records, searching people, contacting family members, etc. Why? What is this group getting out of it? Why is this so important to them. This isn’t an attack this is a question. People deserve to know who the people are behind this page and why anyone should trust a lick of what is said. No rambles about the rep you have by outting a handful of people, really let everyone know why you are someone who should be able to do this to people and actually be trusted and respected. For all we know you could be someone who has done this type of thing before too, maybe thats why there is such a drive and obviously time consuming motive to do this type of thing every single day of your life. Not saying thats a bad reason, but let people know. You do owe it to everyone who reads and follows this blog.
1. It’s Taryn’s blog. That isn’t a secret, never has been. Given that she’s made TV appearances, she’s hardly some sinister anon.
2. Chelsea has hurt real people. Did you conveniently skip the comments from her ex-husband and his mother? Chelsea’s children are not only suffering from their mother’s refusal to care for them, and her criminal avoidance of child support, but they’re also devastated by her “cancer” diagnosis. Didn’t you see the info provided about her little girl, who is in THERAPY because Chelsea said “Mommy is dying”.
Grow up. Stop lashing out and blaming everyone BUT Chelsea. She’s a liar, a fraud, and a disgrace to the word “mother”.
The people on here have way too much time on there hands. This has become abusive and it is out of control but the “people” behind this blog don’t care. They say because these people have lied and hurt others that it is okay to say terrible things and be mean right back. The group of people here are only saying the same things everyone knows already from the blog itself. Everyone commenting on what scum she and others are isn’t going to encourage any of these people to finally come forward and try and get help. Helpful huh? Wrong. Very hypocritical. Comments on this page should never even be an option at least not when just commenting about the story turns into everyone else getting to decide and overly judge and humiliate the people in the blog.
The best part about this group is too anyone who comments and isn’t hateful has a reply from someone saying “stop being so soft!” “you are humanizing her!” “you are downplaying what happened!” Humanizing? Just because these people have done bad things doesn’t make them less of a human, it makes them a human who needs serious help and those comments are sure doing the complete opposite. Anyone who questions anything on here is also suspected to be the person the blog is talking about. Because apparently anyone who actually is nice and wants to be understanding and help isn’t welcome here because this is supposed to be a hate fest.
Well said Heidi! Thanks for being one of the few with a heart and some common sense!! I’m not Chelsea…the “people” can verify this when they check the IP address…The BLOGGER should shut the comments down on this. It’s gone WAY out of control and it’s sick!!
IP address is meaningless. It can be masked or altered with a single mouse click, sometimes even by just powercycling the router.
Language, tone, content – they’re the giveaways. That’s what’s so funny about certain comments.
How is calling other commenters delusional, abusive, and out of their right mind in any way “nice”?
totally agree… this has gone too far.
The vast majority of the comments here haven’t been abusive at all. Perhaps hard to hear for Chelsea, but not abusive. The hyperbolic descriptions of the comments here as “evil” and somehow comparative to Chelsea’s own unethical and fraudulent actions undermine your point in every way. Using emotionally manipulative statements such as, “Because apparently anyone who actually is nice and wants to be understanding and help isn’t welcome here because this is supposed to be a hate fest,” undermines your points as well. Taryn has tried to protect Chelsea by offering to research mental health experts in her area, removing links to public records, and even giving Chelsea a requested 24 hours to come out to her family and friends. But Chelsea seems to be demanding sympathy without showing any remorse for her actions, actions which have real victims. Very few people are going to find her sympathetic under those circumstances.
As long as the claims continue that no one was hurt, people are going to take issue with what Chelsea did. If it pains her to read comments that judge her actions and choices, then maybe she should stop and reflect on those actions and choices. Or perhaps she should stop reading these comments altogether. It is her choice, after all. And since she seems to believe she only has to answer to her friends and family, what does it matter what strangers on the Internet think?
For saying that some people on here have “way too much time on their hands”, you, Heidi, have some of the longest rants on here. Pot..meet kettle.
I don’t have “too much time on my hands.” I have experienced fake bloggers since 2001. In late 2001 I outed one of the greatest liars on the web. I was 21 at the time. I also have this thing called life experience. I know that if a story doesn’t make sense, it’s usually a lie. I have common sense, and I try to give people the benefit of a doubt, meaning if I find a blog that is clearly lies, I ask the author via email or a private outlet, if they forgot to label their writing as fiction. I believe there is good in everyone. It takes all of 5-10 minutes for my brain to process this rational thinking and for my fingers to type it into the comment box. Wow. 20 minutes out of my day, tops. I guess people who spend their free time stealing and photoshopping themselves into other people’s photos don’t have “too much time on their hands,” huh?
The only person on here with too much time on their hands is the one who CREATED AN ELABORATE CANCER HOAX (both online and OFFLINE, with her own CHILDREN), PHOTOSHOPPED CANCER PICTURES WITH HER OWN FACE, CREATED AND UPDATED BLOGS FOR FAKE FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS, etc.
Yes, she’s a terrible mother. She is a liar. She is all the things that everyone says she is, but she is still a person. Being “grown-up” isn’t about throwing rocks at people when they’ve done something wrong; being “grown-up” is above forgiveness and taking the high road. I am not Chelsea, I don’t know her or anyone around her. I am a mother to a 3 year old myself and it breaks my heart that these children are suffering. There is a reason Chelsea is as f-d up as she is… can’t anyone see that? What happened to this girl that turned her into a hoaxer?
He who throws the first stone…
Taryn, please consider turning off the comments or at least censoring them, before someone kills themselves.
I suppose some of you would like to see that, but I wouldn’t. No matter what she’s done to anyone. There is no excuse for this kind of bullying behavior. It’s disgusting and downright WRONG.
It’s pretty easy to go to a library or an internet cafe and get a fresh IP address. Those comments that are mind-numbing walls of text are suspiciously similar to Chelsea’s. If Chelsea hadn’t chosen to use the internet as a means to spread her lies and hoaxing behavior far and wide, she wouldn’t be profiled here on this site. Her choices, her consequences. And guess why I have time to comment on this wretched case? Because I have cancer…real, actual cancer that I have had to battle for almost four years now! And you could dig into my background forever, and not find anything like this in my past. Most people are not sociopathic in their behavior.
Hear hear.
Best of luck in your recovery.
Thank you. I probably am taking this case more personally than others that the WE folks have uncovered, but I interacted with Chelsea on a cancer forum so it’s the first one to really hit home. Plus her threatening behavior toward Taryn and sock puppetry here on the site pisses me off.
Ann, just want to say that I’m sorry that you had the experience with Chelsea that you did, and that anyone on here saying that you, or anyone else, are “bullying” is disgusting! I wish you well in your recovery!
Thanks, Lee. I’ve been in remission for over a year, so consider myself very lucky.
Ann, I wish you luck in beating your cancer. I lost my father to leukemia in early 2011, and was one of the people who Chelsea fooled in real life with her cancer hoax. When I wrote the LJ entry that Taryn linked to, I was still angry. But getting everything out like I did was cathartic for me, as I managed to start believing that Chelsea was out of my life for good.
So when Taryn got in touch with me regarding the LJ entry, I thought that maybe this was it, that maybe FINALLY, Chelsea would confess to what she had done, and everyone could move on. But after Chelsea’s “statement” I feel like this is going to be dragging on for a long time to come.
I’m very sorry you lost your dad to this awful disease. Anyone who has actually had this crap in their lives for real would never, ever pretend to have it. It’s such a terrible experience.
Actually, you can actively release and renew your IP, which I feel kind of uncomfortable revealing – like I’m helping the hoaxers in some way, but if they’re already using proxies, I don’t guess I’m doing too much harm. Maybe. 🙁
And I might add that imo a person like Chelsea will never kill herself…her focus is on controlling and manipulating others through falsehoods. But threatening to kill oneself is indeed one of the hallmarks of a manipulative personality type, so it’s interesting that “Rebecca” uses that threat.
My name is Rebecca Lynn Galias and I live in Pompano Beach, Florida. You can find me on facebook, through my husband Keith. (I am private on facebook, but he’s searchable). I have a 3 year old daughter, Audrey, and I am not a fake personality that is associated with Chelsea. I am a real person with a real heart and I feel (in my personal opinion) that this has turned into a rock throwing contest to see who can be the nastiest. I have lost 2 family members and 1 very close friend to suicide and the friend left a note saying that it was bullying (among many many many other reasons). I do not have cancer, I am not sick, but I was very sick at one point. I too have been duped by people that I cared about and people that I believed were honest and my true friends. I am truly sorry that you’re sick… I am. I do not believe that that gives you the right to bully. That is all I will say. I wish you the best of luck in your recovery… to any of you that sick. And I hope that Chelsea gets the help she needs, for her children’s sake.
Explain how any of this is bullying? People stating how angry they are that someone lied to them? That’s bullying? Telling her she needs to get help? That’s bullying? I’m sorry Rebecca, but people like you are part of the problem. Stop enabling. Stop making excuses for this behavior!
Also, lots of people have had hard lives that have messed them up. Not everyone chooses to go around and continue the cycle and hurt more and more and more innocent people. You’re excuses for this behavior seriously make me sick to my stomach.
I’m not making excuses at all. If she took money, she should go to jail. If she didn’t, she still needs to seek professional help. It’s not about enabling, it’s about HELPING. You can’t help someone by doing what is being done here.
I’m sorry that you don’t agree with me, and that is of course, your right. Please don’t be nasty… I wasn’t nasty to you. I’m sorry that I make you sick to your stomach. Name-calling makes me sick to mine. Good day to you.
What name did I call you?
And you never answered my question. How is she being bullied? Venting frustration about being lied to is not bullying. Stating facts is not bullying.
And in reply to the commenter who talked about letting the police do this work…much of what Taryn uncovers is emotional fraud, which unfortunately is not against the law. But it is unethical behavior, and having someone on the lookout for it is good for everyone…except the hoaxers, of course.
I’d like to address a few things brought up here.
These comments are not bullying Chelsea. They’re responding to something she’s done and the flippant way she says her fake blog “didn’t hurt anyone.” Some of the people commenting have been lied to or hurt for years by Chelsea Hassinger, both in real life and online. And, of course, a lot of these comments are Chelsea herself. There are clues to figure out which ones fall into that last category.
I honestly have no animosity towards Chelsea Hassinger. I was annoyed that I wasted my time listening to her cry on the phone about being a horrible person only to have her blindside me with “my lawyer told me to lie to gather info.” But I still want her to seek out help. I’ve blogged maybe 10% of the information that I have about Chelsea. I’ve been careful to screen out where she lives (even though one picture posted on the Cheecha blog pinpoints the exact location of her home, and that to me is proof enough she’s not dying in a hospital in Pennsylvania, but I digress).
Chelsea was caught faking cancer last year, and the people who caught her decided to delete her account on their site and move on with their lives. Now she’s back. And she’ll be back again unless she is exposed and encouraged to get help. That’s a fact with cases of people who fake this stuff online, and a lot of the people who were exposed on our site, who are now my friends, would tell you the exact same thing.
As for who I am, I’ve been on TV talking about how this blog started, and if you go back to the beginning you could see for yourself. I stumbled on a big gigantic hoax, and I thought it was a great mystery and a fun game to find out who was behind it. Then I started hearing from people who were lied to by that first hoaxer, parents who lost their children but took time out of their lives to comfort someone else who ended up being a faker. The agony that they felt made me see that pretending to be sick online and gathering support is not a victimless crime. The blog developed from there. I saw “we” because after the first hoax was exposed, a team of researchers was formed and I consider this blog a group project between several people. There’s no shady or dark evil conspiracy behind it, and I’ve been very open about who I am from that first day.
We have a commenting policy where we allow everything through. We need to because of the transparency we strive for in this blog. Unfortunately, many of the comments above were made through proxy servers and that seems unfair. It’s making it look like a gang of people are objecting to what we do here when really, that’s just not the case.
An update will be posted on Chelsea Hassinger this afternoon.
I’d ask that everyone, as usual, treat all commenters with respect and give consideration to both the victims of this hoax and the person behind it. I’ve said many times we have one of the least vicious comment sections on the internet and I stand by that statement. Things occasionally get heated, and that’s to be expected, but for the most part, people respect my vision for this blog, which is one that is compassionate to all sides.
Thank you,
Taryn Wright
I’ve been under the assumption, and I still am, that the people (referred to above as the mysterious “we”) involved in investigation for different hoaxes is somewhat nebulous, since most likely that group changes a bit based on those who’ve brought it to light and bring forth past info.
No, the group hasn’t changed since the very beginning. We don’t add new people for privacy reasons.
Makes sense. Still, I really don’t get why so many commenters seem to think the “we” is some kind of dark thing. But I don’t get a lot of how they (or she, or another “we”) rationalize much of their thinking.
I say “we” to give my team credit, not because I’m deflecting responsibility or anything. I stand behind everything I’ve posted on this blog, and if I’m wrong, I’m willing to face consequences for that.- THW
Rebecca and Heidi: I think that it’s bullying to shame the people who Chelsea has hurt into forgiving her actions. That is some self-righteous victim-blaming shit right there. This has all unfolded less than a week ago, so it’s really, really not your place to tell people that they aren’t entitled to be angry.
Let’s not forget that Chelsea co-authored a rage blog titled “raging-like-bosses”. Suddenly it’s okay for her to say whatever hateful thing comes to mind on the internet, but no one that has actually been hurt & deceived by her lies should have the right to do the same? And what about the “Goldberg” family’s response (written by Chelsea) to Rachael Wright’s Terminal Chronicles fraud? It’s alright for her fake online persona to bash Rachael online with a post filled with more offensive expletives than I can count, but the people here that are simply frustrated and tired of her lies shouldn’t be allowed to express their feelings? I barely knew Chelsea, only talked to her a few times online in 2011, but I would gladly move on and forgive her if she would just be honest and show that she’s trying to make things right. So far, she hasn’t done that.
I feel like if I myself were ever in Chelsea’s situation, I would mostly be ashamed and embarrassed that everyone had found out my secret. Chelsea just seems angry and hasn’t really shown any remorse at all. Just come clean Chelsea, I remember you, you were a witty and likable person, you don’t need all of these lies.
Taryn-is there any way for you to indicate to your readers which comments come from proxy servers (how old school I am to think you had to go to the library to cover your tracks)? It seems like that would allow people to have a more complete sense of who is actually commenting here.
Rebecca, a couple of things…if you are talking to me with that bully comment, will you please provide quotes from anything I’ve said here to support that statement? You don’t get to call me names without providing evidence…at least if you want to maintain any credibility. Second comment…how did you hear about this case?
No, I was not referring to you. I don’t call people names… at least I try very hard not to.
I’ve followed this blog since it began. I’m friends with someone who lost someone and they were following “Eli”, and when she posted about it, I read it. And then I’ve followed it since. I had a few experiences with hoaxers when I had my own personal health issues, but never ever to the extent that these people take it. (Although, I never felt comfortable blogging or putting pictures out there, which is why I keep my facebook private). I just think that they need serious help, mentally. I can’t imagine putting my daughter through what these kids have been through. I mean, she’s only three, and she already understands what it means when mommy or daddy has a “headache” or a “tummy ache”. It just blows my mind, and I firmly believe that there is something truly wrong with Chelsea, and all the others.
Then who are you referring to when you say “I am truly sorry that you’re sick… I am. I do not believe that that gives you the right to bully. That is all I will say. I wish you the best of luck in your recovery…”?
Holy crap, are you people all in junior high school? I haven’t seen such a bunch of arrogant, judgmental, self-righteous people since I was in 8th grade.
Here’s what I see, coming from an outsider who just stumbled into this blog this morning (and I’ve already wasted way too much time reading it):
1. You don’t know anything about this Chelsea person. You can’t assume you know the whole story from a few things you dug up on the internet, so don’t pretend you know everything about her life or who she is. Maybe there’s more to her than meets the eye.
2. You don’t know for sure that the person you spoke with on the phone is the real Chelsea, or that the person who wrote the long diatribe quoted in this post is the real Chelsea. They could be two different people pretending to be her. Or they could be the same person pretending to be her. Or, for all you know, the REAL Chelsea might be lying in a hospital bed and has no idea that her name is being blasted all over the internet while someone PRETENDING to be her is posting stuff in her name. You don’t know. So don’t pretend you do.
3. You don’t know that “Grandma” or “Brady” or “Heather” or any of the other people posting here are really who they say they are. Anybody can pretend to be anybody on the internet, and there’s no way to prove one way or the other. That’s the nature of it. You can trace IP addresses til you’re blue in the face, but that doesn’t mean squat because it’s really simple to fake your IP address and appear to come from a different location. I can bring my laptop to the library and appear online with an IP address in San Francisco, then I can go across the street to Starbucks and appear online with an IP address in New York. They both use a satellite provider, and the address geolocates to the location of the provider’s headquarters, not the location of my computer. Or I can dial up a proxy or VPN in Finland or China and appear to come from there. It’s so easy a caveman could do it. So don’t assume you know everything because you can trace a few IP addresses. The chances of you being wrong are about as good as the chances of you being right.
4. Why is it any of your business if this person lied on the internet? People lie. People make stuff up all the time. Get over it. Who appointed you people the Internet Police? If someone commits a crime, there are agencies with the proper authority to investigate them, and more importantly the appropriate skills and technology to get it right. You people are amateurs, and you really have no business “investigating” anyone. What happens when you get it wrong? What happens when you “out” an innocent person and blast their personal information all over the internet?
5. I am not Chelsea.
People lie. And other people have the right to express how those lies have negatively impacted on their lives (freedom of speech).
You seem to be advocating that people should just be victims and shut up and “take it,” when it comes to their emotions.
If you truly believe what you’re advocating, that people should mind their own business and not get involved, why are you posting here and getting involved? Why aren’t you following your own advice? A case of “do as I say, not as I do”?
Hey! It’s “Todd with the fake profile from Facebook”! Hi Todd! And once again, we get “People make up stuff all the time”. It’s just fascinating how all the alleged supporters of Chelsea (and I say alleged because when you have a fake FB profile, there is a reason for that) all say the same thing. And my personal answer is this…No. People do not lie all the time. Todd/Chelsea/whoever you are, don’t try to rationalize your bad behavior with that argument. Most people are decent and honest.
Here, here! Again, Todd is Chelsea. And until Todd can prove he isn’t, I will believe it.
1. That is not even a logical point so much as it is a derail: there is more to everyone than meets the eye, but that has nothing to do with the fact that Chesea faked a terminal illness online AND in real life and refused to take accountability for it when she was caught.
2. Unless you are proposing that there are clones in our midst, people have met Chelsea in person. People have Skyped with her Moreover, her IP address hasn’t changed since before it was determined that the whole thing was a hoax.
3. Again–you need to look to Occam’s Razor. Is it more probable that Chelsea lied or that a conspiracy of malevolent entities conspired to used proxies in order to steal her identity, besmirch her “good name”, and alienate her friends? How do you explain what happened with hitRECord last year, before this blog even existed? Taryn has been transparent in regards to her identity and research methods from day one. Meanwhile. what has Chelsea said or done to make her so credible to you?
4. Uh, dude, when you blog about something on the internet it ceases to be private. People can troll, mock, belittle, and investigate it. And “proper technology”? We aren’t talking about DNA tests and blacklights–we are talking about shit like dragging pictures into the Google search box and looking stuff up on Facebook: many employers (and blind dates) will do a lot more to ascertain if somebody is legitimate. Also, I’ve said this earlier in the thread, but you do not get to police people’s feelings about getting betrayed. And the “lol it’s just the internet” defense is both puerile and dated: these are real people and this is real life.
5. On that, I congratulate you.
…did you even read the entries on Chelsea here? This isn’t a, “there’s a blog here and has doctored photos, the end, good job gang” deal. This is a person who has conned people in real life in the past, and there’s proof, people online have attested to it. Even if Grandma and her ex aren’t real, quite a few people have stepped forward to say they felt she was lying and were proven right-not just with this fake blog, but with the hoax she pulled before.
Yes, people lie on the internet. I myself might say I’m really an inch taller than I am, or that I’m five pounds lighter, etc. But there is a huge difference between something like that and then suckering a community into believing you have a terminal illness/you’re a whole different person that doesn’t exist/that person’s entire family. She violated the trust of people who are really, very seriously sick and scared, and led them on a wild goose chase in hopes of sympathy, and from what I understand, perhaps even money. This isn’t like going on a blind date and finding out the person used a photo of themselves from five years ago and are greyer than you expected. This is despicable and malicious behavior someone pulled to people who are really hurting.
I just want to say we’re real. My son is Brady Maxton, my daughter in law is Amanda Maxton and I’m Glenda Maxton. We live in central Pa. We have a couple years of Facebook postings that can be viewed by anyone. You can scroll through our ordinary days, our pictures and postings. We probably don’t want to “be friends” with fifty new people, but we’re who we say we are, and open for your scrutiny.
I had no doubts you weren’t, Grandma Gar. 🙂 Just saying, someone was trying to deflect and say you or your son weren’t real, and even if you guys happened to be random people claiming you knew her-there are so many people affected by what she’s done that I would find it hard to believe everyone in this case is lying about what she’s done. Hope your family is doing well, despite the circumstances. This can’t be an easy time for you.
Rebecca and Heidi, You have no clue what she has done and is capable of. She manipulates everyone in her path. If you knew some of the things she has truly done to my family, my kids and myself i don’t believe you would feel such compassion for her. Yes some of the comments are scathing but she needs some of that. However honestly she does not care. I have known her a long time and do not believe she would kill herself, she is too narcisitic for that. Also she obviously doesn’t feel she is in the wrong and want to take responsibility for this and also past actions.
A few questions for Rebecca and Heidi,
Would you forge checks to yourself that you stole from your spouses 84 yr old grandmother?
Would you let your kids sit in thier cribs with fecal matter on themselves, the crib, the walls then blame him for taking his diaper off? He would sit there for long periods where she was supposed to be at home taking care of them yet played on internet all day making up false personalities (yes this is not the first time). With this she would not feed the kids or spend time with them(especially our son). The son that she does not even involve in family pictures. There’s been times where our daughter has recieved cards but he didn’t. The rare times she calls she talks to our daughter then when our son gets on the phone she hangs up. She says she will come get the kids and then just not show. Even in her blogs she referrences a daughter but no son.
She pettitioned to get them every other weekend and 2 wks in summer. She does not follow through with any of the custody order. We joke that she gets them for “photo ops” when the event involves her like mothers day, Chelseas b-day, her cancer survival party. But she doesn’t even call the kids on their birthday and most times they call her she doesn’t answer.
She wrote several emails to me stating she was another person confirming that Chelsea was writing a book and this girl was going to help her publish it. Surprise surprise… no book, no friend.
Would you take your kids for there checkups or just lie to your spouse that you did?
Would you make up that you have a job that wasn’t real. How about depositing empty envelopes into the atm so she could take out money she didn’t have? Shall i go on?
This is just a small portion of what we have dealt with not you.
So in conclussion she is more than just a person that needs some help. She has done these things to family, friends, and now people online. I would not be surprised if there is more personalities that haven’t been found yet. Chelsea has shown over and over again that she will not change, she will not take responsibility, and she will not care who she hurts in the process.
Rebecca and Heidi you have no idea what it feels like to fear for your kids safety from their own mother so if you have a problem with what people are saying then go away and don’t read this blog.
Hi, Brady,
I am very sorry for whatever Chelsea has done to you and the kids. As someone who knew her in real life and online, I remember her telling terrible stories about exactly what you said (leaving kids in diapers all day, never being around, being a bad parent in general) but was blaming the kids father (you) for doing those things instead of herself. I once mentioned a story about my brother-in-law’s father leaving him in diapers for his mother to change, and I’ve never seen anyone get so personally offended about diaper changing, which is very typical behavior of Chelsea. She acts offended when someone is guilty of the same atrocious behavior she is. Be it diaper changes, art plagiarism, or faking cancer.
Despite calling her my friend for a brief time I never really, truly liked her. Talking to her online and in person gave me bad vibes and she seemed selfish and defensive and would get very upset when not enough attention was focused on HER. Then we found out she was faking a lot of things she was telling us and doing, and she was found out and she essentially cut us off (it was no loss to us, to be frank).
All of the other stories you have said I have heard before in regards to Chelsea, and I know first hand what a master emotional manipulator she can be. I hope your kids are doing better now and I hope for their sake that Chelsea stops hurting them in such manipulative ways.
That part about your little boy broke my heart. I’m so happy he’s in a loving safe environment now. <3
Hi Brady-I’m really sorry that Chelsea has caused so much pain in your life. It’s pretty clear from the people commenting here that this is something she has done to many, many people over the years. I would encourage you at a minimum to pursue the issue of getting Chelsea to pay child support for her kids. If she is using her false diagnosis of cancer as an excuse to avoid paying, this is something that could, and should, be proven in court. I’ve known more than one person like Chelsea in my life, and I’m sad to say that they rarely change, but you should at least be able to get some financial support for your children. Take care.
Wow. There is a heck of a lot of gaslighting going on here…
I appreciate the kind comments to us. The child support order is not about the money. I don’t need money from her it was to atleast hold her responsible for something in her life. Obviously that didn’t work.
Proper authorities have been in contact with me and are reviewing everything very closely.
I hope that your entire family can soon find peace and security. I can only imagine how difficult it has been on all of you. Sending healing thoughts.
To everybody who feels like the real issue in all of this is that posters are “too judgmental”: I invite you to start a blog that exposes people for feeling ways about stuff. I’m sure it will be a riveting read.
High Five, Sea Anemone Enemy!
Munchausen Syndrome is a serious mental illness. I honestly cannot believe the number of people advocating leaving this situation be knowing that Chelsea is out there, by all appearances, desperately in need of mental health care. As a society we would never advocate for, or accept, indifference as an approach to handling people’s serious physical illness. Yet serious mental illness sufferers are on their own? This blog has a history of finding treatment for people who need it very badly. If you disagree with the methodology I wonder if you have studied the condition and have a basis for forming your opinion on how it should be handled?
This, a million times this.
Ultimately what it comes down to, regardless of how terrible of a person she may seem (and really IS at this point, as she is proven that the material written in her blog is fake, she herself admitted to that), we do all have to realize that this is a person with a serious mental illness that can, and already has, impacted others. Having a mental illness does not, at all, justify ANY of her actions (now or in the past) but it makes it a little easier to see in her world. Maybe she HONESTLY believed everything she was writing to be true? That all of these stories she created were things that she thinks legit happened in her head. I work with mental health, I see cases like this a lot. While it never gets to, say this level (with hundreds of followers online being lied to), but I have seen the faces of the family members that have lived years believing a lie about someone and thinking it was real, only to find out that it has all been a lie. Now not only does the person creating the lies need mental health, but as does the people lied to. This is NOT a victimless crime, and there is no single person who doesn’t get hurt from this.
If Chealsea were my client, I would, first, have to make her accountable for her actions. This means she has to admit, in front of a group of people she lied to, that she lied and she was wrong. If she is unable to do this, she is not yet even close to being on the path of recovery.
I have a feeling though, with all of her back child support and now proof of her lies, that she might have to spend some time in jail (not paying child support is illegal, after all, even if lying to people online isn’t). Going to jail would be the best thing that could happen to her. There they will connect her with mental health staff who will be able to tackle this kind of issues.
Also, Chealsea, if you decide you need mental health help, message me. I am a professional, I have a degree and everything (and proof of my degree). I don’t agree with what you’ve done here, but I think we all can agree that you need help.
Jamie-a question for you, from your professional perspective. Do you ever see people who commit these kinds of acts, with the goal of actual fraud (avoiding child support with a false cancer dx in Chelsea’s case), actually get better in the long run? I don’t mean some of the other hoaxers we’ve seen here, who seem like sad and lonely people, who don’t have many friends IRL. Chelsea seems different…she’s attractive, seems to have family and friends, but also seems to be lacking the fundamental circuitry that would stop most people from doing these things. I ask in part out of personal interest, as my husband’s bookkeeper (for his finance business) was discovered not long ago to have stolen a ton of money from the company. She had been doing it for years, all the while coming to our family weddings, making blankets for the news babies, and being generally very personable. She didn’t need the money for any specific purpose, she just did it because…she could. She was trusted, and liked. I just wonder if a person like that, who is not a teenager or young adult, has hope for change. We didn’t press charges, just fired her, but now I’m wondering if that was the right call. Maybe all we did was pass a grifter on to other, unsuspecting people.
Professionally I see with my clients something similar to this, but for different reasons. Many of my clients have substance abuse issues and spent years of their lives lying to family members about why they did those things. While each of their lies were 100 percent false and done out of personal gain and not so much because they ‘think they are sick’, these people are still sick in some way. The DSM includes chronic lying as a pre-curser to several mental illnesses, so I couldn’t begin to tell you what she has, if she has one at all (it is in my strong opinion that she does have serious mental illness). A lot of this sounds REALLY close to my substance abuse clients who created lies and fake worlds all for their own personal gain. At some point though their ‘fake’ worlds ended up becoming a reality of some sort, but not in the direction that they hoped or intended for it to go. By the time the family gets to me, they are basically DONE with the person who is sick. That is why having the person confess to their lies in front of those that they lied to is supposed to be therapeutic, for both the family and the person creating and telling the lies. My clients who are in recovery for chronic lying are the FIRST people now that will own up to their past lies and even tell people, openly, and that they used to chronically lie. I hope this answers your question 😀 you are free to send me a message via my tumblr if you have any more questions!
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Thank you! Interesting, if kind of depressing. I admire you for being able to do your job!
I think it’s possible that, unlike the other cases Taryn has uncovered, that what we’re seeing here isn’t Munchausen by internet so much, as just an attempt to avoid paying child support.
I don’t think it’s just munchausens or just to get out of child support. there are things she’s done and ways she’s decieved that don’t even fit into those possible categories.. I think she’s just bad. Just a very dishonest person. Sociopathic most likely. She does it because she CAN, and because she has no conscience. She has no empathy and likes to see people hurting – like a kid squashing bugs.
No Ann. This story is NOT her attempt to avoid child support. There’s history of manipulation, lies, check fraud and pretending to be others — and a shrug of the shoulders when caught. There are enough “real” victimes before and after this marriage/divorce to my son and its’ subsequent court ordered child support. My grandson has neurological brain damage, possibly because of her diagnosed Anorexia or undiagnosed Munchausen by Proxy. By Internet? I’d never heard of that one. She’s had inpatient, intensive outpatient, and outpatient treatment at reputable centers for Anorexia/mental health. If you met Chelsea, you would find her attractive and charming, and also flippant and sarcastic. I think she is creative, but not willing to work at it – easier to cheat at it. She is just exactly as she writes under all the pseudo names. She can take her nearly 6 ft. frame and have her weight at a thin-looking 125 pounds or take it down to a frail, sickly 98 pounds. I don’t believe people are “born evil”. I don’t know that her childhood was anything much other than middle class, mom, dad and older sis, and reliable extended family. Chelsea may have a background story I don’t know. What does Jaimie think about “sociopath”?
Gosh, what a mess this is, Grandma Gar. I guess I hoped that Chelsea was just a one time scammer, creating this scenario to avoid her financial responsibilities. But clearly it goes much deeper than that. For the sake of her kids, I really hope someone can convince her to get help. But I don’t know…that was kind of what I was getting at when I asked my question of Jamie. Is a person like this ever “fixable”? My husband’s secretary has been fooling people for decades (she’s in her 60s), just finally got caught. And she seems to have no remorse for what she did. She’s just sorry she got caught. And that’s the feeling that Chelsea (and her various “supporters”) gives me…no remorse except for getting busted.
I don’t think there’s any history of drug abuse or addiction either, Jamie. She’s really a pretty gal with normal intelligence and social skills. The flaw is that she lies, and creates layers of lies, and seems to be without conscience when she takes from anyone. No compunction about lying to people’s faces, even when she’s so close emotionally to them. Like Ann said, as if missing that “whatever”. I’m sure we all hope she accepts help and works to make change.
301.7 Antisocial Personality Disorder
Diagnostic criteria for 301.7 Antisocial Personality Disorder
*There is a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others occurring since age 15 years, as indicated by three (or more) of the following:
*failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest
*deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure
*impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
*irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults
*reckless disregard for safety of self or others
*consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work *behavior or honor financial obligations
lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another
*The individual is at least age 18 years.
*There is evidence of Conduct Disorder (see Diagnostic criteria for Conduct Disorder) with onset before age 15 years.
*The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during the course of Schizophrenia or a Manic Episode.
Hope this helps!
The pattern of antisocial behavior continues into adulthood. Individuals with Antisocial Personality Disorder fail to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behavior (Criterion A1). They may repeatedly perform acts that are grounds for arrest (whether they are arrested or not), such as destroying property, harassing others, stealing, or pursuing illegal occupations. Persons with this disorder disregard the wishes, rights, or feelings of others. They are frequently deceitful and manipulative in order to gain personal profit or pleasure (e.g., to obtain money, sex, or power) (Criterion A2). They may repeatedly lie, use an alias, con others, or malinger. A pattern of impulsivity may be manifested by a failure to plan ahead (Criterion A3). Decisions are made on the spur of the moment, without forethought, and without consideration for the consequences to self or others; this may lead to sudden changes of jobs, residences, or relationships. Individuals with Antisocial Personality Disorder tend to be irritable and aggressive and may repeatedly get into physical fights or commit acts of physical assault (including spouse beating or child beating) (Criterion A4). Aggressive acts that are required to defend oneself or someone else are not considered to be evidence for this item. These individuals also display a reckless disregard for the safety of themselves or others (Criterion A5). This may be evidenced in their driving behavior (recurrent speeding, driving while intoxicated, multiple accidents). They may engage in sexual behavior or substance use that has a high risk for harmful consequences. They may neglect or fail to care for a child in a way that puts the child in danger.
Straight out of the DSM. I would say, based off of what I have read about her thus far and what she has written herself (I also followed her blog on tumblr and feel manipulated and lied to) it sounds likely that this could be one of the things she has, however I could never make an official diagnosis until after meeting with her or talking with her myself for about a half an hour or longer to get a full assessment. Grandma Garr, if you want I can shoot my facebook or email your way and offer you any advice from a mental health professional’s standpoint!
In your professional opinion, do you feel like having an open blog discussion like this against these people is helpful or harmful? Would you encourage people who need help with there mental issues to post publicly what they did for anyone and everyone, total strangers mind you not family, to pipe in with hateful and non constructive comments and posts. Is this encouraging those to come forward to get help or not?
Stupid questions:
1. Are there any exceptions to this? At 28 I got my nose re-pierced on a spur of the moment decision. I’d hate to think I’m a serial killer, aside from my old SIMS games, that is!
2. “Social norms” aren’t always morally right? IE: Being Jewish in Germany in the 1930s was grounds for execution.
“Social norms” doesn’t mean religion/minority group status or temporal events brought about by ideology.
It refers to basic conventions regarding your individual behaviourrelevant to the society/culture you live in. Let’s pick the UK as an example, where “social norms” include wearing clothes in public, eating food from crockery, living in a house, and treating other people with dignity and respect, unless you have a good reason to do otherwise.
Behaviour that transgresses these norms (I’ve encountered each of these professionally) would be insisting on being nude in public, serving meals on floor tiles instead of plates, living in a stranger’s shed, or deliberately antagonising and threatening random members of the public.
With the exception of the last example, these transgressions were usually correlated with an untreated mental illness. People with ASPD, OTOH, tend to break the more obvious social codes/norms like not stealing from people, not taking pleasure from the suffering of others, not feigning illness for personal gain,
caring about the welfare of other people, seeing other people and animals as individuals with feelings and needs, not committing random acts of harm or violence without reason.
Obviously cultural norms involving food, clothing and social roles differ widely across the world, but sociopaths everywhere will be the ones defying basic human norms about not stealing from, hurting, lying to, and killing whoever and whatever they feel like, without caring about how that affects other people.
Everyone has some traits that might be considereda little odd, that why the DSM requires 3+ of the listed behaviours, performed consistently and without any distress or regard for how those behaviours are perceived, before a possible dx of ASPD can start to be investigated.
Thank you so much Boostick. And thank you’s to Jaimie and Ann, and so many of you who have taken time to offer information about this and support to our family. We’re dealing with so many emotions here. And Taryn — what an incredible service you provide. One week ago we’d never heard of you. Now I wonder how we’ll ever thank you enough. We Maxton adults attended an annual charity event last evening. Vickie’s Angel Walk’s Valentine Dance. We work hard for this charity – and love it. They support cancer victims. 100% of the donations (100%!!) goes directly to people in central Pa. who are fighting cancer. Mickey Minnich, a good friend of my husband’s, started this to honor his wife Vickie. We joined in with passion, and to honor my brother Benjamin Dana Kitzmiller who died of Hodgkins when he was 29 in 1987. You can read about Vickie’s Angel Walk on their website. They hold fundraisers all year long. (Another favorite they do is the pie throwing contest.) There was such heart and goodness in the dance hall last evening. People who are receiving current aid, who are able, get up and speak — and boy do tears flow as we listen. Mickey announed that Vickie’s Angel Walk hit a milestone — they have now distributed One Million Dollars to people with cancer. The band Pentagon donates their service each year. The food and beverages are donated. Volunteers, volunteers, volunteers!! Ten women made/donated quilts – I was high bidder on a beautiful one. We laughed and danced and talked — it was good to spend an evening out in our “real” world, and (perhaps ironically) with hundreds of people who are doing something to support those with cancer. May I suggest that anyone reading this who has time/good health and has not done so, find an organization in your own community and GET INVOLVED.
Thanks.
The reason I asked is because my great grandfather was a member of the SS–because he was a social outcast not being a member. His son, my grandfather, took up a four-pack-a-day cigarette smoking habit because in the 1940s-1960s(?) everyone smoked, doctors not only smoked in exam rooms with patients, but they RECOMMENDED cigarettes to many patients, and again, my grandfather was socially isolated because he didn’t smoke.
Those “social norms” kind of scare me, you know? But then again, I mix social norms up with peer pressure.
@Ann- It could be both. There is obviously a mental health issue here, though I am not a professional and don’t have 1st-hand knowledge. A competent pro could get to the bottom of this.
I… am at a loss for words. Chelsea’s case is so different from what we’ve seen at WEHG. I am no psychologist but it seems like most of the fakers posted here were spurred on by loneliness, feelings of inadequacy, desire for attention/friends, etc. Chelsea, on the other hand, is attractive, amicable, good at making friends, creative – yet, she is compelled to compulsively lie to the extreme (if the comments by her ex are to be believed, even to the detriment of her own children!). She most definitely needs help. That we all agree on. Is she a sociopath? What is she hiding with all of her lies? What is the motive?
I totally agree with this case feeling very different from the others. All of the other hoaxers were really sad people. Chelsea may be sad, but she’s also kind of scary.
What also makes this different is it’s one of the few whose lies and manipulation are in both “real” life and online. For most of the others, it seems like they use the internet as a way to act out a fantasy life, and then convince themselves it’s not hurting anyone because it’s just online. As you say, most of the hoaxers just seem like sad people, and likely their families and people who interact with them in “real” life are surprised when their online deception is revealed. With Chelsea, I get the sense that the internet is just one vehicle she uses. Based on what her ex and his family have shared, it seems like she doesn’t need a computer or strangers on the internet to lie or deceive.
Wow, Chelsea will stop at nothing to ‘prove’ herself. You can say all you want that you aren’t Chelsea, but what makes you think we would believe you? (this is to anonymous)
Heather, either you are so far off the deep end to actually BELIEVE this liar, or you are just refusing to accept it to save face. Either way, it’s sad.
I have never seen so many “anonymous” comments that say almost the exact same thing. “What makes this blog credible?” “You are all a bunch of bullies!” “Leave her alone, you’ve exposed enough.” They don’t read as genuine to me.
I watched the whole “Warrior Eli” hoax unfold. (I actually emailed one of the bloggers whose pictures were stolen.) A big thank you to Taryn and her team for all the hard work, compassion, and levelheadedness.
Attorneys would never tell their clients to blatantly lie. I call bullshit.
Sincerely, Paralegal for the last 6 years.
I only made it half-way through the comments, but one of the red flags in her statement was “steroid temper tantrums.” Similar to Iraland (was that the one) that made references to roid-rage. Someone needs to read up on the varying types of steroids and their uses.
I have known Chels since she was in 10th grade and her Mother, Brenda, since she was 13 years old. I do not condone or forgive Chelsea’s actions but her Mother is a full blown narrcisist and possible sociopath and her father is no better. Her Mother is a pathological liar and I believe that Chels is also and frankly that makes me sad because I always liked her.
I am not sure if the attorney she referred to, Brian Ulmer, is actually representing her or not. Brian is the chief public defender in union co. pa. and Chels Mother, Brenda, works or at least worked, in his office.
…I realize that this is months late, but if her story about being stalked is true, either her ex-husband is a master hacker, or *every* social networking site has some major database vulnerabilities, or Chelsea sucks at keeping her passwords hidden.
Seriously, hacking is far less glamorous than the movies make it seem, and far more difficult and messy and boring. Even experienced hackers won’t find it easy to repeatedly steal someone’s password over and over again on multiple sites, especially since major social networking sites protect against the most common exploits (thank goodness) and finding zero days (exploits that haven’t been discovered) is often very time consuming.
Besides, if her husband really was that good at hacking, he could have, I don’t know, been stealing credit card numbers and social security numbers or something and profiting instead of wasting all his effort on stalking her.