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Prank call tells husband wife killed in Iraq
Hat tip PW.A phone call to Eddie Valentin saying that his wife, a U.S. Army Reserve sergeant, had been killed in an explosion in Iraq turned out to be a hoax. What asshole would DO such a thing!? But it took him nearly 24 hours to find out that the report of Sgt. Betsy Valentinâs death was false. ``I went crazy. I banged my head against the wall,ââ Eddie Valentin said Thursday. The caller Wednesday claimed to be a colonel with the U.S. Department of Defense and knew personal information about Betsy Valentin, including her Social Security number, her husband said. Eep! On Thursday afternoon, another call to Eddie Valentin cleared things up. It was his 37-year-old wife telling him that there had been no explosion and no injuries. Her call was prompted by an e-mail message to her from a reporter for the Republican-American who had interviewed her when she was home on leave last month. The reporter sent the message after being unable to confirm the report of her death with military officials. A reply came four hours later. She wrote that she was fine and had spent the day packing up gear she no longer needed. She followed that up with the call to her husband. Police were at the Valentin home when the sergeantâs call came in. ``There are a lot of sick people in this world,ââ Eddie Valentin told his wife. No kidding. After talking to the military, police said Friday they are sure the call was a cruel prank, and they are pursuing a criminal investigation. ``The military was definitive. That is not how they notify next of kin when there has been a casualty,ââ said police Sgt. Scott Stevenson. Army officials said next of kin normally are notified in person by a soldier in uniform. Next of kin are only notified by telephone in rare cases, such as when the military wants to tell a family member before the name is released in the news media, they said. ``No one in the Army has placed this call,ââ said Tesia Williams, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army human resources command. She said there have been at least two other similar hoaxes. Ouch. Police executed a search warrant Friday to obtain cell phone records to determine where the call came from, Stevenson said. Potential charges would include harassment and criminal impersonation, Stevenson said. ``The husband, he was just incredulous,ââ Stevenson said. ``He could not comprehend who would make a phone call like that.ââ
Posted by: Steve from Relto 2004-03-05 |
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