Scammers target family of missing mother of four, Kaysey Yoder, with Facebook messages claiming to be her: ‘It’s been so terrible’
The family of a mother of four who has been missing for months say they were targeted by scammers looking to cash in on their nightmare as they struggle to hold out hope she is found safe.
Tami Ruth, the heartbroken mom of missing Kaysey Yoder, 34, of Colorado says she was devastated when her family recently received fake messages on Facebook from scammers claiming to be her daughter, who vanished in January.
” ‘You give me the money, I’ll be back tomorrow,’ “ Ruth told CBS News in describing the messages she received from the scammers.
“It’s been so terrible. I’m falling apart at the seams,” the grandma said of the mental stress.
The Weld County Sheriff’s Office had put out a call to the public for help in finding Yoder, who left her home Jan. 14 around 4 p.m. and never came back.
The sheriff’s department has said “no criminal act is suspected” in her disappearance.
While the family said the sheriff’s post helped spread the word about Yoder’s vanishing, the news appears to have made its way to bad actors who tried to take advantage of the missing woman’s loved ones.
Yoder’s 9-year-old son, Havyn, had been the one to receive messages from his mom, with the overjoyed boy running to his grandmother to alert her about the good news.
“He kept saying, ‘Grams, she’s coming back tomorrow,’ ” Ruth recalled.
But Ruth said she quickly picked up that the person on the other side of the messages was not her daughter, with the scammer unable to answer basic questions that Yoder would know.
The scammer then claimed that they couldn’t recall the answers because they had been badly beaten by kidnappers, with the fraudster also saying they were in Russia.
“I go, ‘You’re not my daughter. I gotta find my daughter,’ ” Ruth said before ending the exchanges.
The devastated mother reported the incident to police and to Justice Takes Flight, a Colorado-based nonprofit that helps the families of missing people.
The Weld Sheriff’s Office said it has followed up on about 50 tips regarding Yoder’s disappearance, including alleged sightings, but there are still no solid clues as to her whereabouts.
“Unfortunately, these investigative efforts have not uncovered where Kaysey went or where she is now, but no criminal act is suspected involving Kasey’s departure from home,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.