Troopers investigate fundraising for girl who was not sick

FAIRBANKS — An online fundraising effort that took in $6,110 to pay medical expenses of a Fairbanks girl was taken down after the website creator said she learned the girl was not sick.

Alaska State Troopers are investigating the fundraising, which saw 80 people donate to a cancer recovery fund on a GoFundMe page, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.

Christina Barron, a friend of the girl’s parents, started the online fund drive Feb. 10. She contributed $200 to offset medical expenses that she now believes were not real. She said the site was taken down last week at her request.

“I am just as much of a victim as everyone else,” she said. “I am leaving it up to the investigators.”

Comments attributed to the girl’s mother on the fundraising site supported the assertion that her daughter had cancer.

“I refuse to let my daughter lose this fight and I’ll fight with everything in me until she is cancer free,” one comment read.

However, the girl’s grandmother announced on social media Friday that the girl does not have cancer.

“Our family had no knowledge of this horrific misrepresentation,” the grandmother wrote on Facebook. “We are grief stricken by what an event like this could do to our giving community, friends and associates.”

Tim DeSpain, a troopers spokesman, said investigators began reviewing the fund drive in mid-March after getting a report from a community member. No charges have been filed and the investigation continues, DeSpain said.

Scheming to defraud is a class B felony, DeSpain said, and the maximum penalties for a conviction are 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

More in News

The Norwegian Sun in port on Oct. 25, 2023. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Ships in port for t​​he week of May 4

Here’s what to expect this week.

Walter Soboleff Jr. leads a traditional Alaska Native dance during the beginning of the Juneau Maritime Festival at Elizabeth Peratrovich Plaza on Saturday morning. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
A strong show of seamanship at 14th annual Juneau Maritime Festival

U.S. Navy and Coast Guard get into tug-of-war after destroyer arrives during record-size gathering.

Pastor Tari Stage-Harvey offers an invocation during the annual Blessing of the Fleet and Reading of Names at the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial on Saturday morning. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Loved ones gather for reading of 264 names on Fishermen’s Memorial and the Blessing of the Fleet

Six names to be engraved this summer join tribute to others at sea and in fishing industry who died.

Lisa Pearce (center), newly hired as the chief financial officer for the Juneau School District, discusses the district’s financial crisis in her role as an analyst during a work session Feb. 17 at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. Seated next to Pearce are Superintendent Frank Hauser (left) and school board member Britteny Cioni-Haywood. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Lisa Pearce, analyst who unveiled Juneau School District’s crisis, hired as new chief financial officer

Consultant for numerous districts in recent years begins new job when consolidation starts July 1.

Visitors on Sept. 4, 2021, stroll by the historic chapel and buildings used for classrooms and dormitories that remain standing at Pilgrim Hot Springs. The site was used as an orphanage for Bering Strait-area children who lost their parents to the 1918-19 influenza epidemic. Pilgrim Hot Springs is among the state’s 11 most endangered historic properties, according to an annual list released by Preservation Alaska. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Boats, a lighthouse, churches among sites named as Alaska’s most at-risk historic properties

Wolf Creek Boatworks near Hollis tops Preservation Alaska’s list of 11 sites facing threats.

The Alaska Supreme Court is seen on Thursday, Feb. 8, in Juneau. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
State seeks quick Alaska Supreme Court ruling in appeal to resolve correspondence education issues

Court asked to decide by June 30 whether to extend hold barring public spending on private schools.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Wednesday, May 1, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Capital City Fire/Rescue responded to two residential fires within 12 hours this week, including one Thursday morning that destroyed a house and adjacent travel trailer. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Update: Man arrested for arson after fire in travel trailer destroys adjacent Mendenhall Valley home

Juneau resident arrested at scene, also charged with felony assault following Thursday morning fire.

Hundreds of people gather near the stage during last year’s Juneau Maritime Festival on Saturday, May 6, 2023, at Elizabeth Peratrovich Plaza. The event featured multiple musical performances by local bands and singers. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
Annual Maritime Festival to get a military salute with arrival of US Navy missile destroyer

A record 90+ vendors, music, search and rescue demonstration, harbor cruises among Saturday’s events.

Most Read