Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
It may not be particularly surprising that an Idaho woman in her mid-20s who suckered Lance Armstrong and many others into a cancer hoax was mentally unbalanced enough to commit suicide, but it is sad:
Late last week, Melissa Ann Rice from Ammon, told a campaigner for Livestrong, the Lance Armstrong Foundation that Jonathan Jay White did not exist. On Wednesday, the Bonneville County Prosecutor was ready to charge Melissa Rice with grand theft by fraud but she was found dead in her car in the hills five miles east of Idaho Falls, from an apparent suicide.(The news article in question comes from an Idaho TV station and badly needs an editor; [sic] implied above.)
"Jonathan Jay White" was a 15-year-old kid with brain cancer with a blog (now removed but referenced here along with a couple of creepy pictures), a Twitter feed, a bunch of signed Lance Armstrong gear, and no corporeal existence. This is the kind of thing that White posted:
With this courage my outlook on the fight began to change, instead of dwelling on the pain and being the victim I became the warrior. I allowed my entire being to be filled with HOPE and started to focus on my future and on beating my cancer. I have written down my dreams and everything I plan on doing. I learn as much as I can and share it with anyone willing to listen. I laugh often, cry when it's needed and do my best to turn every bad day into a good one. Surviving cancer is not easy, or fun but it is what I and many others do. We are warriors, armed with Hope and we fight.
Which I guess is pretty convincing as a random 15-year-old, if a little too attentive to capitalization and spelling rules.
Armstrong "enjoyed chatting with" White -- presumably about what a jerk Alberto Contador is -- until some of the charities that had been donating money to his cause decided they'd pay him a visit after a scheduled Arizona surgery. The jig was up, Idaho authorities closed in, and Rice decided to end the hoax in a definitive and tragic manner.
Weird, weird story that should have Chris Hansen in it somewhere. Is there a moral in there? Maybe cancer charities should get random people on the internet on the phone to confirm they're, you know, the right gender and age and whatnot before offering money to them. Anyone who's gotten an email from a barrister in a sticky wicket knows this. Is Isiah Thomas running these things?
(H/T to Deadspin)
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
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Hey Vick why don’t you take a cue from Rice and do the honorable thing!
by GeoX on Jul 24, 2009 7:15 PM EDT reply actions
Come on Geox, now that is unneccessary.
by sportsguru on Jul 24, 2009 7:26 PM EDT reply actions
way to make a joke about a suicide a**hole. Did you stop to think about her family before you wrote this? Chris Hanson? This is definitely not a joking matter.
by SPIDERS on Jul 24, 2009 8:40 PM EDT reply actions
She stole money from people who gave their hard earned out of the goodness of their heart to help a cancer patient.
The money that will never be seen by real people suffering from cancer.
In the future people suffering from all manner of misfortune who will never see money because of shameless thieves like her?
People see crap like this and think long and hard before giving because of the possibility of scams.
Sorry spiders but you can kiss my äss because I care more about those people than I do about that scumbag con artist (or her family whom I highly doubt is reading Sportingnews about her).
At least she saved the taxpayers the cost of a trial.
by GeoX on Jul 25, 2009 2:46 AM EDT reply actions
From what I’ve heard, they did do their research, she was just that good. People thought they had talked to the kid on the phone, talked to his parents, saw pictures of him…it wasn’t until someone was going to meet him in person before his surgery that Rice probably realized the gig was up and confessed.
And I agree with GeoX on one point—I hope this doesn’t cause people to be less generous with those needing support with their cancer.
by elizabeth2002 on Jul 25, 2009 10:04 AM EDT reply actions
I’m just glad the perpetrator had the decency to off herself. If there’s such a thing as hell she will surely burn there for all time. I have a friend whose girlfriend (a manipulative, fat, narcissistic and self loathing witch) faked breast cancer to guilt trip him into not breaking up with her. She said there was no cure and she had three months to live at best. Then when she realized to maintain credibitility she would either have to have mastectomy or actually die, it MAGICALLY became type A Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. (a MISDIAGNOSIS OF THESE TWO DISEASES BY A KNOWLEDGEABLE ONCOLOGIST IS IMPOSSIBLE). She must have done her research and figured this was a cancer she could successfully fake. Of course she announced it was advanced (stage 6 to be precise), but she had not had a tissue biopsy, nor was a spinal tap performed, which would be mandatory to determine a stage 6 case. She refuses to let anyone take her to the doctor, will not allow the BF to discuss how he might be able to help her with the actual doctor, etc. Once a month she sticks a couple band-aids over an area where she claims an IV catheter was inserted to administer her chemotherapy drugs. If the boyfriend asks to see what the site looks like, asks to accompany her to the doctor, see any test results, etc. she becomes nasty and hysterical and locks him out of her apartment. She has threatened to committ suicide if her questions the legitimacy of her "illness". I THINK PEOPLE WHO FAKE CANCER TO DECEIVE OTHER PEOPLE SHOULD BE THROWN IN JAIL OR RESTRAINED AND PLACED IN A MENTAL INSTITUTION. THE WORLD WOULD BE A BETTER PLACE IF MORE FAKERS LIKE THE ONE IN THE ARTICLE AND THE ONE i MENTION HERE WOULD TAKE THEIR OWN LIFE.
by NewWorldOrder3 on Aug 9, 2009 11:37 AM EDT reply actions
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