Blogger Wove a Tangled Web

[OKNancy]

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/12/blogger-wove-a-tangled-web/

une 12, 2009, 3:38 PM
Blogger Wove a Tangled Web
By LIZ ROBBINS
The doll was the giveaway.

For the last two months an anonymous blogger from the Chicago area known as “April’s Mom” told the Internet community nightly about her pregnancy of a terminally ill child. The unmarried woman with staunch anti-abortion views, who wished to carry the baby to term, drew hundreds of thousands of followers and well-wishers.

People sent cards. Bought T-shirts. Prayed. Posted inspirational quotes. Some even sent money.

“April’s Mom” said she delivered the baby this past Sunday in a home birth, claiming that the newborn, “April Rose,” died a few hours later. She put up a picture accompanying the post of a baby swaddled in blankets. But the picture was of a doll that one reader actually owned, and the blogger’s supposed true pregnancy story soon unraveled — to the outrage of readers. The Web site is now disbanded.

The Chicago Tribune posted a long profile of the woman, Beccah Beushausen, whom it identified as a 26-year-old social worker from Mokena, Ill. Who knows whether Ms. Beushausen is telling the truth even now. She did get a somewhat glamorous photograph out of the deal.


more at link

[noiretextatique]

1. off topic, but

i can't wait to try your soaps when i get paid next week :thumbsup:

[OKNancy]

4. woo hoo

be sure to pop me an email or leave a comment.. I give extras to my DU friends

[noiretextatique]

6. will do

thanks :hi:

[emulatorloo]

2. Fascinating -- here is the Trib article

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-baby-hoax-12jun12,0,5601624.story?page=1

Blogger's baby was a hoax
Woman captivates thousands in anti-abortion movement with false story of difficult pregnancy

<SNIP>

There was only one problem with the unfolding tragedy: None of it was true.

Not the pregnancy, and not the photos posted on the blog of the supposed mother and Baby April Rose, swaddled in white blankets. The baby was actually a lifelike doll, which immediately raised the suspicion of loyal blog-followers.

"I have that exact doll in my house," said Elizabeth Russell, a dollmaker from Buffalo who had been following the blog. "As soon as I saw that picture, I knew it was a scam."

By Monday, outraged followers on dozens of Christian parenting Web sites unmasked "April's Mom" as a hoaxer, and hundreds more vented their anger.

"She needs to be exposed and held accountable," Russell said.

Sensing people were close to establishing her identity, "April's Mom" on Monday raced in vain to delete her Web site and Twitter and Facebook accounts.

But it was too late. The online community found out her true identity: Beccah Beushausen, 26, a social worker from Mokena.

When reached by the Tribune on Wednesday, Beushausen admitted the hoax.

"I know what I did was wrong," she said. "I've been getting hate mail. I'm sorry because people were so emotionally involved."

<SNIP>

much more at link.

[damntexdem]

3. She hoaxed the anti-choicers. I have only one comment:

LOL!

[question everything]

5. We are a gullible nation of many who would believe anything

as long as it is posted on the Internet.

[Suich]

7. I've never heard of being pregnant with a

"terminally ill" child. Have you?