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LAYTON — Inside his family home, Brian Roche keeps a wide collection of tarantulas. Like many hobbyists, he's passionate about the animals.
"You have tarantulas (worth anywhere) from six bucks to close to a thousand dollars," Roche said.
Last week, he noticed a post in a Utah-based tarantula owner group, that he said played on the emotions of enthusiasts like him. The story was posted in a page created on the fund-raising website GoFundMe.com.
"Max was terminally ill with cancer and didn't have much time left," Roche said, further explaining that the site asked collectors to fulfill the 11-year-old boy's dying wish to become a tarantula keeper. "There were a lot of people that were willing."
Roche was also interested in helping at first, but later decided to investigate the source. After the site's creator, listed as Frankie Hallett, could not provide evidence that the story was real, Roche said a friend put Max's picture into a google image search. One of the results pointed to The American Childhood Cancer Organization of Utah, or ACCO, another took him to a story on ksl.com. On both websites he found the same picture of "Max," only it was 11-year-old Hunter Hansen, a girl who was fighting small cell ovarian cancer.
"You really feel for the little girl," Roche said. "When you turn around and use a young girl that's ill for your gain, it's hard. It made a lot of people mad."
Hunter's mother, Brynn Salvatori was also surprised to hear the news. She says it made her sad at first.
I'm mad that they would take my daughter's photo for gain like this, especially if there's so many people out there that would need the help.
–Brynn Salvatori, Hunter Hansen's mother
"I'm mad that they would take my daughter's photo for gain like this," Salvatori said, "especially if there's so many people out there that would need the help."
She should know. After standing by her daughter through 27 radiation treatments, six rounds of chemotherapy, and a bone-marrow transplant, Salvatori started volunteering for the ACCO. She's now the chairperson for the local chapter, which raises funds to help pay for bills, transportation and the day-to-day needs of Utah families who have children with cancer.
"It's so easy to set up GoFundMe accounts, or anything else like that, and do fraudulent activity like that," Salvatori said.
Hunter helps her mom with some of the volunteer efforts too. She's been in remission for close to two years now.
"I think those people are stupid," Hansen said, when asked about the fundraising page. "(I'm) kind of sad for the people who fell for it."
The Logan Police Department has issued Frank Eugene Hallett a citation for misdemeanor communications fraud. Investigators said he claims to suffer from mental illness and has refunded $250 in donations, although it is not clear how much he collected.
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