An Iowa woman falsely claimed she had leukemia and pancreatic cancer to raise tens of thousands of dollars in donations, according to authorities.
Madison Russo, 19, is now charged with robbery after claiming to suffer from “leukemia, stage 2 pancreatic cancer and a tumor, the size of a football, that was wrapping around her spine,” the court said. Eldridge Police Department in a news release.
Russo shared his “cancer journey” on social media, a GoFundMe page and in an interview with local media. Witnesses who claimed to have medical expertise said they noticed “many medical discrepancies” in Russo’s social media posts and contacted police, The Kansas City Star reported.
Medical professionals noted “appalling, life-threatening inaccuracies in the placement of his medical equipment on his body,” according to court documents. Some photos appeared to have been taken in Russo’s apartment rather than a doctor’s office.
2 IOWA STUDENTS KILLED, 1 SCHOOL EMPLOYEE INJURED SHOT AT SCHOOL, 2 SUSPECTS IN CUSTODY
Madison Russo, 19, is charged with theft after falsely claiming she had cancer.
(Scott County Jail)
Court documents also indicate that he took photos posted by real cancer patients and shared them as his own.
She said in an interview with the North Scott Press on October 18 that she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on February 10, 2022, and leukemia a few months later. She said doctors gave her a “slender 11% five-year survival rate” before discovering the spinal tumor. Russo said she was still attending classes at St. Ambrose University, maintained a high GPA and interned at John Deere despite her claims of her medical problems.
On a since-deleted GoFundMe page, Russo raised more than $37,000 from 438 donations, according to the Muscatine Journal.
GoFundMe said in a statement to McClatchy News that it has a “zero tolerance policy for misuse of our platform and cooperates with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing. All donors have been refunded and we have removed this fundraiser.” of funds. The recipient has also been prohibited from using the platform for future fundraisers.”
Police said in a press release that she was arrested on January 23 and faces a charge of robbery by deception after stealing money from donors.
An Iowa woman falsely claimed she had leukemia and pancreatic cancer to raise tens of thousands of dollars in donations, according to authorities.
(Tik Tok)
Russo also spoke about his “cancer journey” at St. Ambrose University, the National Pancreatic Foundation in Chicago and a podcast for Project Purple Online, according to police. But the National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation said in a news release that he was “inadvertently named.”
“This is not accurate,” the foundation said. “We can confirm that the person in question has not had any contact with the National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation and has never spoken at any of our events… We are discouraged to hear that someone would fake a cancer diagnosis.”
St. Ambrose University has not confirmed whether Russo spoke at their institution.
THE MURDER OF 2 IOWA STUDENTS WAS A TARGETED ATTACK, SAY POLICE
Eldridge police said Russo was arrested Jan. 23 and faces a charge of robbery by deception after stealing money from donors.
(Eldridge Police Department)
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Project Purple told McClatchy News that this “is an unfortunate situation for everyone involved.”
“Like those who donated, we had no reason not to believe Maddie’s story and did not have access to privileged medical information to confirm her story,” the organization said in a statement, adding that it was cooperating with law enforcement.
Russo was booked into the Scott County Jail before posting $10,000 bail. She will be arraigned on March 2.
