SCAMMED p.15

By: LAURA REINA

THE DESERET NEWS of Salt Lake City, along with the Family Services of Utah, were recently snowed by an alleged, homeless, 13-year-old "blizzard boy," who turned out to be a 25-year-old woman, who went by the name Birdie Jo Hoaks.
According to a Dec. 28 News article, a boy named "Mark" approached Family Services of Utah on Dec. 20 with a letter which said his natural father had AIDS and didn't want to care for him.
His stepmother, the letter said, couldn't care for him either.
The boy also presented a copy of a birth certificate from Denver, which appeared genuine, and he explained he was born during a blizzard on Christmas day in 1982.
Steve Handy, News marketing director, said that Family Services tried to keep the boy's tragic story quiet, but one of the newspaper's reporters got wind of the story, and wrote a Dec. 23 article about his situation.
After the story was published, the newspaper re-ceived a flood of calls, with people who wondered where they could send money and how they could help. It was the holiday season and the boy's story was so heart-wrenching, it touched everyone, according to Handy.
By noon on Dec. 26, the News had set up a bank account for donations for the boy, Handy said. Family Services of Utah also set up a fund, and gifts and money were sent to the foster home where the boy was staying throughout this ordeal.
The same day, however, Handy received an e-mail from one of the newspaper's reporters who said he had gotten a call from a reporter in Vermont.
The Vermont reporter said the circumstances detailed in the story sounded a lot like a scam that had taken place in his state about four years ago.
Later that day, another News reporter who attended a hearing to determine the boy's fate ? and aware of the potential scam ? asked a Family Services representative if the boy had been given a full physical examination.
Up until that point, the boy had only received a psychological exam. Family Services did not have enough time, due to the holiday season, to get a court order permitting a full, physical exam.
According to Handy, the judge stated to the boy's (male) attorney, "If that's a boy, you're a girl," and demanded the boy receive a full physical exam.
The News reporter who attended the hearing wrote an article, stated that the boy was in a foster home, and explained where readers could donate money to the trust fund. The article also mentioned that the boy was receiving a thorough physical.
"Things were moving so fast, we were getting calls from people wanting to adopt," said Handy.
The next day, the newspaper again ran a story stating where readers could donate money.
Family Services finally called a press conference, announced that the boy was a woman, and stated it was all a scam.
Handy immediately called the bank and asked
officials to close the account.
"As for the donation fund we set up, by the time we pulled the plug, we had collected only $25," said Handy.
The $25 couldn't be traced, so it was donated to a homeless fund, he said.
Hoaks eventually pleaded guilty to two reduced charges on Jan. 2: one count of forgery, a third-degree felony, and one count of making a written false statement, a Class B misdemeanor.
She was sentenced to a year in jail and a psychological evaluation was ordered.
Hoaks, it was learned, also spent time in jail in other states and is a mother.
A Dec. 28 Deseret News article revealed another twist to Hoaks' story: her real name is not Birdie Jo, but Roberta, and police in her hometown of Hoopeston, Ill., said she has a twin sister named Becky, who has been involved in similar scams.
According to police, "They started with routine childhood antics, joined the Army briefly by posing as men and then launched their cross-country, low-budget jaunts."
As for the News, Handy said that although the blizzard boy scam created "a flurry of activity for a few days" at the newspaper, no real harm was done.
"It was a lot of hoopla, everyone tried to do the right thing, but no one was hurt," he said.