I'll be the first to admit that you can get a little jaded in this job.
Not much surprises me anymore.
A healthy dose of cynicism goes with the job.
But even I'm blown away by the outcome of the investigation into what was a classic "feel-good" story about a homeless vet coming to the aid of a woman who had run out of gas on I-95 in Philly.
The yarn went that he offered her his last $20 for gas. She in turn wanted to thank him and started a GoFundMe page. Together with her husband they raised $400,000. They took pictures of the happy threesome, the young married couple and the recovering veteran.
There was only one problem with the story.
It was all a lie.
Prosecutors say the woman never ran out of gas. The vet never gave her his last 20 bucks. The three of them concocted the while story to raise money.
When questions first started to arise about this caper, with homeless Johnny Bobbitt accusing Kate McClure and Mark D'Amico of not giving him the money, he actually filed suit against them. McClure and D'Amico went on national TV on a morning show and denied they had spent much of the money.
Not only is the money all gone, but the entire story was a ruse.
All I can say is this: Wow.
Just wow.
These days I get accused of peddling fake news.
In this instance it was true.
We all got swindled by a feel-good story that was rotten to the core.
Wow.
Just wow.
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