Chapter 5 — Faith in the Truth

Summary

Scamanda Podcast: Chapter 5 — Faith in the Truth

Release Date: June 5, 2023
Host: Lionsgate Sound
Narrative Voice: Charlie Webster

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Introduction

Chapter 5 — "Faith in the Truth" delves deeper into the enigmatic story of Amanda C. Reilly, a seemingly vibrant individual battling cancer while garnering widespread community support through her blog, TeamAmanda. This episode uncovers the complexities and suspicions surrounding Amanda's genuine fight against cancer, leading to an intense investigation spearheaded by investigative producer Nancy.

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Amanda’s Public Battle with Cancer

Amanda C. Reilly presented herself as a beacon of hope and resilience, chronicling her cancer journey on her blog. Described as "a charming, beautiful, bubbly, young woman who lives life to the fullest," Amanda's openness about her struggle made her an inspiration to many both locally and globally.

In 2012, Amanda publicly announced her cancer diagnosis on her blog. However, discrepancies in her story began to surface when her friends disclosed prior knowledge of her condition. For instance, Lisa Berry recounted, "[05:57] Charlie Webster: At least two months." Yet, Amanda only revealed her battle two years after initially mentioning it to close friends.

Amanda’s blog became a central hub for her supporters, providing updates, resources, and inspirational content. She actively engaged her followers, thanking them for their support and recognizing individual contributors like Charisse Valdez: "[09:17] Amanda Riley: ...Charisse from Church who doesn't want credit, but too bad you're getting credit. Thank you and merry Christmas."

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Community Support and Fundraising Efforts

Amanda's illness galvanized her community, leading to numerous fundraising initiatives under the banner of TeamAmanda. Events ranged from Christmas caroling to themed dinners aimed at raising funds for her treatment.

Marc Maron, an actor who read Amanda’s blog, highlighted the collective effort: "[07:04] Charlie Webster: Marc Maron: TeamAmanda has been busy as ever... Twenty percent of your bill will be donated to our family..." These events not only provided financial assistance but also fostered a sense of unity and hope among participants.

Charisse Valdez shared heartfelt memories of these gatherings: "[08:55] Charisse Valdez: ...we were dropping those off and her and her kids came out and we just sang Christmas carols..." Such moments underscored the deep emotional bonds formed within Amanda’s support network.

Additionally, creative campaigns like the "Share Some Sunshine Challenge" and collaborations with brands further amplified fundraising efforts. Rebecca Kiffiro, one of Amanda’s friends, emphasized the personal sacrifices made to support Amanda: "[19:06] Charisse Valdez: We gotta get together and do this... Amanda loved the shake so much she ended up becoming an ambassador for them..."

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Scepticism and the Onset of Investigation

Despite the overwhelming support, suspicions about the authenticity of Amanda’s condition began to emerge. Investigative producer Nancy received an anonymous tip questioning the legitimacy of Amanda's cancer diagnosis, prompting a meticulous examination of her blog and activities.

At [26:09], Charlie Webster explains: "[26:09] Charlie Webster: California, HIPAA laws are patient confidentiality laws... Even a San Jose detective can't request or access them." These laws posed significant challenges in verifying Amanda’s medical claims, as personal medical records were inaccessible without proper authorization.

Amanda’s friend, Lisa Berry, voiced her confusion and doubts: "[05:57] Charlie Webster: Lisa Berry: ...there were always these little things that she'd do that didn't make sense." Such inconsistencies, like Amanda’s luxurious purchases amidst fundraising efforts, raised red flags.

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The Investigation Process

Nancy's investigation led her to Detective Jose Martinez of the San Jose Police Department's Financial Fraud Division. Facing an understaffed unit overwhelmed with cases, Martinez had to prioritize the investigation of Amanda's blog amidst numerous financial crime cases.

In a revealing conversation, Martinez shared his initial skepticism: "[27:25] Amanda Riley: The treatment is immensely expensive... My treatment is $1300." This minimalistic portrayal of Amanda’s medical expenses contrasted sharply with the substantial fundraising and donations she received, prompting further scrutiny.

Detective Martinez delved into Amanda’s blog posts, noting discrepancies between her described symptoms and the visual evidence. For instance, Amanda often posted images showing her IVs and monitors, yet maintained an appearance that seemed inconsistent with someone undergoing rigorous chemotherapy: "[27:17] Marc Maron: ...eyes almost swollen shut from allergies to new chemo meds... IVs and scans all the time." However, photographs from her blog depicted a healthier appearance, such as swollen limbs and rashes that didn’t align with her descriptions.

At [30:23], Amanda reflects on her investigative efforts: "[30:23] Amanda C. Reilly: I was used to, like, people I worked with or people I would bring it up to say, you're crazy... who would." This highlights her determination to uncover the truth despite facing skepticism and resistance from those around her.

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Confrontation and Revelations

As the investigation intensified, Amanda began to perceive the scrutiny as a personal attack. She labeled Nancy as the "enemy" in her blog posts, indicating the strain it placed on her mental and emotional state: "[55:01] Amanda C. Reilly: ...there's an enemy out there. You know who you are."

The culmination of Nancy’s investigation revealed a concerning pattern of inconsistencies in Amanda’s claims. Reports of lavish expenditures, like purchasing a vacation home while soliciting funds for medical treatments, further fueled suspicions. Additionally, Amanda’s abrupt changes in her support network and attempts to discredit investigators raised alarms about the authenticity of her condition.

At [37:25], Amanda confronts the ethical dilemma of suspecting someone’s sincerity: "[37:25] Amanda Riley: ...supportamanda.com and the share Some Sunshine Challenge... They’re asking you to share some warm fuzzies to spread the word about Hodgkin's lymphoma." Despite her initial intentions to seek the truth, Amanda acknowledges the emotional toll of accusing someone without concrete evidence.

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Impact on Amanda’s Personal Life and Community

The investigation not only threatened Amanda's public persona but also strained her personal relationships. Friends who once supported her became conflicted, torn between disbelief and the loyalty they felt towards Amanda.

Rebecca Kiffiro, a close friend, recounted a pivotal moment that shifted her perception: "[43:54] Rebecca Kiffiro: ...we were all in the front yard, the kids were on the same... I see her telling me... I couldn't believe how ungrateful she was talking about donors." This incident marked the beginning of her doubts about Amanda's sincerity.

Moreover, Amanda’s husband, Corey, exhibited signs of discomfort and detachment, especially during social gatherings and financial dealings. Rebecca observed: "[47:52] Rebecca Kiffiro: Corey always seemed uncomfortable... Amanda was a lot better about putting on a happy face than he was." Such observations further complicated the narrative, suggesting potential underlying motives beyond Amanda’s public battle.

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Conclusion: The Unraveling of Trust

Chapter 5 — "Faith in the Truth" serves as a pivotal installment in the Scamanda series, unraveling the intricate web of support, suspicion, and deception surrounding Amanda C. Reilly. Through meticulous investigation and emotional testimonies, the episode highlights the delicate balance between belief and skepticism in the face of adversity.

As the community grapples with the revelations, the episode underscores the importance of transparency and the profound impact of trust within personal and communal relationships. The narrative leaves listeners questioning the authenticity of public personas and the lengths individuals may go to conceal their true intentions.

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Notable Quotes

• Lisa Berry: "[05:57] ...she failed to tell me she has cancer."
  Reflecting on Amanda’s delayed disclosure of her diagnosis.

• Charisse Valdez: "[08:05] ...I was a poor college student at the time, so I didn't have too much to give... but I tried to help Amanda in any way I could."
  Illustrating the depth of community support despite limited resources.

• Marc Maron: "[07:04] ...we are an army against cancer and that is badass."
  Expressing gratitude and the growing support network.

• Rebecca Kiffiro: "[43:54] ...I couldn't believe how ungrateful she was talking about donors."
  Highlighting the turning point in her perception of Amanda.

• Amanda C. Reilly: "[32:29] There's a real, like, ick factor with pointing the finger at someone and saying, I think they're faking cancer."
  Acknowledging the moral complexity of suspecting someone’s sincerity.

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Production Credits

Scamanda is hosted and produced by Charlie Webster, with production by Jackson McLennan. Amanda’s blog posts are voiced by actor Kendall Horn. The episode features editing and theme music by Nico Palella Estate, assistant production by Casey Hertz, and additional support from Stephen Sletton, Will Hagel, and Nicole Urban. Executive producers include Charlie Webster and Nancy Muscatello, with sound engineering by Pilgrim Media Group.

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Listen to Chapter 5 — Faith in the Truth on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform.

Transcript

[ACAST]

ACAST powers the world's best podcasts.

[Marc Maron]

Here's a show that we recommend.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

Hey folks, it's Marc Maron from wtf. I've been talking to all kinds of famous people in my garage since 2009, including a sitting President. You know, I don't imagine you were flying in here on the chopper thinking like, you know, I am nervous about Mark. No, I wasn't. Okay, well that's good. That would be a problem. It would be a problem if the President was feeling stressed about it. Coming to my garage. Coming to your garage. And now there's even more WTF when you subscribe to the full Marin to get weekly bonus content and all WTF episodes ad free. Listen to WTF wherever you get podcasts and subscribe to the full [e-mail] WTF.

[ACAST]

Acast helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.

[Charlie Webster]

Hey Scamander fans. Charlie here. I've got something big you won't want to miss. If you loved the podcast, then mark your calendars because here comes Scamander the docu series starting tonight at 9:00pm 8 Central Time on ABC and then also streaming on Hulu. Watch for yourself as every step plays out and see firsthand how Amanda Riley's world spirals down and out of control. The lies, the betrayals, the investigation, the police and some of the people closest to Amanda Riley share their stunning and emotional stories tonight at 9:00pm 8 Central on ABC. This amazing new series will be taking an even deeper dive into the notorious con artist and I promise you, you will be on the edge of your seat with jaw dropping twists, turns and shocking revelations. Trust me, you won't be able to look away. So make sure to watch the shocking and incredible new docu series on ABC and Hulu. If you love the podcast, you are just going to love this. Grab your popcorn, set that reminder and tune in starting tonight, January 30th to what will sure pure primetime drama. Believe me, you don't want to be the only one not talking about this show. Scamander on ABC and streaming on Hulu. And it all starts tonight, January 30th at 9pm 8 Central. Watch this people. It's too good. Are you ready for the ride? Let's go.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

After going through the first three years of the blog and fact checking everything I could, I put together a log of everything that I did, all the steps. Anytime I talked to someone, I logged it and kept track of everything. And then I contacted San Jose Police Department, the Financial Fraud Division Detective Jose Martinez.

[ACAST]

I sat just directly across from Amanda, and she says, oh, so you're Martinez? I am. Nice to meet you.

[Charlie Webster]

I'm Charlie Webster. You're listening to Scamander. In 2012, Amanda C. Reilly told the world she was diagnosed with cancer for the first time on her blog. Lymphoma can suck it. But it actually wasn't the first time she'd been diagnosed. She told her friends Lisa and Steve Berry, way back in 2010, two years before the blog even started, that she had cancer. So how long had you known her before you found out she'd got cancer?

[Lisa Berry]

At least two months.

[Charlie Webster]

How did she tell you?

[Lisa Berry]

I still remember this conversation. She was picking Jessa up from our house, and I happened to mention about a fundraiser for a family at the school that had just taken place. It was one of their classmates, and the father had brain cancer, and he'd grown up in town. He was very beloved member of the community. So it raised 100,000, doll. And I told her about that for the family. The very next morning, she called me to tell me that she had cancer, too. That just blew me away, and I was surprised. Why didn't she tell me before now? I mean, this is a big thing. She called me the next day, told me she had cancer. She'd been fighting it for a while. She's been on chemotherapy treatment, and she didn't think she was going to have children. And literally, within two days, I'm picking up Jessa for school because Amanda was too sick from chemotherapy. But I just thought, she's just told me this, I guess, right after. And I kind of thought, I wonder, you know, I wonder. Yeah, I don't know. But it didn't make sense to me. There were always these little things that she'd do that didn't make sense. And that's like, okay, she's been at our house. We've talked so many times. I've been to court with him twice. How come she failed to tell me she has cancer?

[Charlie Webster]

Amanda's husband, Corey, eventually confided in Steve.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

That Amanda has stage four. She's progressed to stage four cancer. And we're like, oh, my God, I'm so sorry.

[ACAST]

And he was saying that they're telling her that she doesn't have much time. It just sort of blew us away.

[Charlie Webster]

But when Amanda fell pregnant with her first child, she told Lisa, the pregnancy.

[Lisa Berry]

Is reversing the disease. That's what she said. The pregnancy is reversing the cancer. It was easy to just forget about these people and just forget about them and just go on with our lives. After we went through that awful feeling that we went through, they were gone. We moved on with our lives and we forgot that they even existed.

[Charlie Webster]

Fast forward to 2015. Amanda now has two kids, Carter and the youngest, Connor, the miracle baby. Her bonus daughter Jessa, was living with her and Corey. Though the custody battle was still raging through the courts, Amanda's blog was her constant and so were her followers as well as her own journey. She posted resources, support services and inspirational content.

[Marc Maron]

The grace and love of everyone who has my back is unfathomable. I had so many people fighting for me when this started, but the small circle has dramatically grown beyond the city or even the state. We are an army, an army against cancer and that is badass. I still believe in God and his miracles. My faith hasn't wavered and that's not changing now.

[Charlie Webster]

Church and her Christian faith was such a big part of Amanda's life and support network. Here's Charisse Valdez.

[Charisse Valdez]

She would put that update out for us and it just devastating. It broke my heart that someone who was so strong and had battled for so long and got cleared was somehow back into that mess again. It didn't seem fair, it didn't seem right. I was angry that that could happen to her again. It's just, it's not fair for a young mom to have to go back into that again. I definitely reached out, let her know that I loved her and I'm here for her and anything she needs to just let me know. I was a poor college student at the time, so I didn't have too much to give. I tried to be there for her as best as I can and get the word out. And so that's kind of part of why I would speak more openly about Amanda and her journey to hope that other people who maybe could give would be able to because I wasn't financially.

[Charlie Webster]

Able to Shareece may not have had the finances, but she tried to help Amanda in any way she could through Christmas caroling, community events and just being there. This is a message that Amanda posted for her followers, thanking everyone for their support and she gives Sharice a special mention. This is real audio of Amanda.

[Amanda Riley]

There were so many blessings that we received this year for Team Amanda. They basically filled our entire tree full of presents for the kids and for us and gift cards and financial donations and it was so beautiful and so selfless and words can't describe how amazing that makes us feel. Charisse from Church who doesn't want credit, but too bad you're getting credit. Thank you and merry Christmas.

[Charisse Valdez]

Tell me about the Christmas carols.

[Charlie Webster]

That's producer Jackson you can hear there.

[Charisse Valdez]

That was a really fun, cute one. Actually. It was probably a group of like 30 or 35 of us. We drove up to her house around Christmas time and people had donated some gifts and so we were dropping those off and her and her kids came out and we just sang Christmas carols and tried to bring some joy to these little boys lives as they were dealing with whatever it was inside their house. And kids were smiling. They were really excited. Amanda was giving us hugs, you know, thank you so much. I remember her crying a little bit while we were there. They were very excited. I mean, especially because most of us who had gone were people that did love them and had been close with her and her family. So immediately they saw us and they just saw, you know, extended family, essentially. It was a very sweet time. I even still have a picture of all of us with our little Santa hats outside of her house dropping it off. I am someone who has so much empathy in my heart for other people, especially if they're suffering and struggling. So to be able to be part of that, not only to just be there for Amanda myself, but to be surrounded by other people who have that much love in their hearts is very different. I remember just feeling so joyful that we could make some type of a difference.

[Charlie Webster]

The community kept rallying around Amanda. Fundraising for their close friend became a good excuse to put on an event. Each one had a way to raise funds for TeamAmanda. Next on the calendar, Amanda's 30th birthday at Tex Mex chain of restaurants, Chili's. You can probably find a Chili's down the street from you. Four of them near Amanda got together to support her.

[Marc Maron]

TeamAmanda has been busy as ever. The incredible Heather Allison has organized a support Amanda event at Chili's on my 30th birthday. If you eat at any of four Bay Area Chili's, 20% of your bill will be donated to our family to help pay bills, medical debt, complete bucket list items, and put money away for Corey and the kids when times get hard in the future.

[Charisse Valdez]

It was at Chili's. Basically you just show up and you have dinner on a specific night. I want to say it was probably like a Thursday or something. I just remember part of whatever you spent on your meal at that restaurant that night. If you mentioned that you're there for that, it went to Amanda.

[Marc Maron]

A huge thank you to all four Chili's locations that hosted a fundraiser for our family, as well as the hundreds of people and dozens of servers that participated. It was a wonderful way to spend my birthday. Two locations have turned in their totals, raising over $650.

[Mahasti]

I mean, throwing a birthday party at Chili's for her. That's where we went. Cory's boss was there. His wife was there, and he paid for their dinner because Cory and Amanda didn't have enough money.

[Charlie Webster]

Mahasti, the babysitter, was one of the many on the invite list.

[Mahasti]

I remember there was a little argument that Amanda says, I don't have enough money. We can't have it. I can't believe your boss again, leaving without paying for his dinner with his wife. And he left before the dinner was even over. And they did. The boss and the wife left before the whole thing was even over. And Amanda says, I can't believe they didn't pay for it and I don't have enough to pay for it. And Mian Kirsten, one of the moms, we said, it's okay. We cover it. We walked to the bank and got money to pay for it. I can't believe Mita. We were invited to a party. Not only we paid for our own, we paid for her boss and the boss's wife and her brother, like, hello, her brother was there too. It's crazy.

[Lindsey Wilder]

The idea was that she just needed to make it to 30. This was her big bash at the end of her life. She was supposed to die so many times. So many times. It was terminal. It was a miracle.

[Charlie Webster]

Lindsey Wilder, from Amanda's church, she put.

[Lindsey Wilder]

Together a segment for a video that played at a women's conference at the church about her being terminal with cancer but still finding and leaning on Jesus. Huge deal with the number of people watching this. People were crying at their tables thinking about how this woman was going to disappear. There were people in the church that were very gifted with video production. They were usually the people putting together the announcements, which at this larger church were very, like, high production. So what she did was decide to collaborate with Amanda and make a video to the song, a fight song. I remember in that video, the fire department that are all holding signs. This is a couple dozen people holding signs for Amanda. I'm actually in it, holding a sign that says Team Amanda.

[Marc Maron]

Here is the new video. We did the hashtag teamamandasigns. We were hoping and praying that we would get 10 people willing to go in front of a camera in support of me. We ended up with 92 photos, 92 photos.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

It was February 2015, and that song by Rachel Platten, the fight song, was really, really popular. It was on the radio a lot. It was the song that Amanda made for her inspirational music video, her fight song, her cancer fight video. You know that fight song, it's that dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun. Take back here. It was super moving. It was empowering. It just lifted you and you're in her corner.

[Lindsey Wilder]

And when it came out, I was just once again marveled, a little bit more starstruck because now this person was, you know, in a music video on the beach.

[Charlie Webster]

What was the reaction to the video when it went out?

[Lindsey Wilder]

More of affirmations for Amanda. You know, you're so strong, you're so resilient. Look at what's happening in your life. Yet you press on with this smile, yet you spread sunshine because she did do little things for people. She did do nice things.

[Marc Maron]

I feel so honored, blessed, and supported because of you. Thank you, hope. This video represents a thank you to every person who donated to keep us in our house, help with preschool costs, get medical bills paid, help me achieve bucket list items, prayed for us, brought food a lot, watched the kids, and just for giving your attention and presence.

[Charlie Webster]

Amanda premiered the video at her house, rolling out the red carpet for friends and family.

[Mahasti]

Once I was over her house, she said she called everybody to show the video. This is my fight, or something like that. So we were over there and she played the video. That's the time I sat there at the table crying, looking at the video, and she was saying, it's gonna be okay. Everything's gonna be fine. She was patting me in the back. I thought it was a really good one. If anybody wants to donate seeing that video, you're gonna donate.

[Marc Maron]

Thank you to everyone for supporting my hashtag, teamamandavideo. We have over 1200 views and 26060 shares. That's phenomenal. I have received six messages from people feeling inspired and encouraged to keep fighting and been contacted by one journalist and two radio stations.

[Lindsey Wilder]

She was borderline a celebrity.

[Marc Maron]

My hope is to get the word out to nevergive up and with you guys, that's happening. Rachel Platten, the singer of fightsong, even gave some recognition. That just made my whole day.

[Charlie Webster]

Yep. Rachel Platten tweeted a response to the video. Incredible. You guys inspire me so much.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

I just was inspired by it.

[Charisse Valdez]

I was like, wow, this is awesome.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

Like, I passed it along. It was posted on my social media. It was. It was just really inspirational.

[Charisse Valdez]

Like, yeah, like, she's really fighting for her life.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

Like, you know, I teared up watching it.

[Charlie Webster]

This is Stephanie Finn, Amanda's hookup to the celebs. She made her own videos as part of a viral campaign which was started by Amanda's mom Peggy to help Amanda. Suitably titled the Share Some Sunshine Challenge.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

Even like the youe Are My Sunshine.

[Charisse Valdez]

Videos and trying to challenge people.

[Rebecca Kiffiro]

I was like, hey, come on, guys.

[Charisse Valdez]

We gotta get together and do this.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

I was at my friend's house, so her kids did it with me. It was just anything we could do to just help her. Like anything we could do to help get the money. So it was one less thing for her to have to worry about.

[Charisse Valdez]

Here it is, guys, the Share Some Sunshine Challenge.

[Amanda Riley]

A big thank you to all my.

[Charisse Valdez]

Friends and family that have helped us with TeamAmanda to support our brave cancer warrior, Amanda Riley. Please check out supportamanda.com and the share Some Sunshine Challenge on Facebook for more details. This challenge is fun and it's similar to the ALS Challenge. However, instead of getting cold water poured.

[Amanda Riley]

On your head, they're asking you to.

[Charisse Valdez]

Share some warm fuzzies to spread the.

[Amanda Riley]

Word about Hodgkin's lymphoma. All right, you guys ready?

[Amanda C. Reilly]

Yeah.

[Charlie Webster]

Amanda's cancer wasn't taking a break and her supporters weren't either. Nor was Nancy. She was consumed by Amanda carefully watching everything. But instead of posting up outside Amanda's house with, say, a pair of binoculars, Nancy's stakeout was digital. There were pages of Amanda's blog posts piled high on her desk and bind is full of research. You'd think she was a detective.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

I knew what I was doing was the right thing to do. First off, I knew that what I was doing, I was doing it properly. I was going about it in the right manner of fact checking everything and anything I could. I was reaching out to people to try and cooperate. Whatever she would talk about when she said, you know, this is where I'm going to get treated, I reached out to those places. I had conversations with those places on a daily basis. Anytime she posted about them, I would reach out and I would say, here's what she has to say on her blog today. They couldn't give me information about A, any type of patient and B, anyone who's not a patient. Right. If she's not getting treated there. So what I would do is I would pose all my fact checking questions in a way to very specific to what she would say. And those nurse oncologists that were at this Facility. They knew something wasn't right. I had told them about the blog. They had looked at the blogs. And so when I would ask those questions, they would answer me, yes, no, we don't do it that way. We don't have this. We don't do that. So they. They never talked about her specifically, but just about procedure, about their clinical trials, and about the facts. After about going through the first three years of the blog and fact checking everything I could, I put together a log of everything that I did, all the steps. Anytime I talked to someone, I logged it and kept track of everything. And then I contacted San Jose Police Department. The Financial Fraud Division. Detective Jose Martinez is the only detective they have for financial fraud. I was put in touch with him. I talked to him briefly on the phone. He said, well, what? Can you put it all in an email and send me? Why you think this? So I put together all my notes, my timeline, my log, my source information that I thought if he looked at this, he could see okay. It wasn't just a hunch.

[Charlie Webster]

We met with Detective Jose Martinez only days after he'd retired. How long have you been retired for? Like, literally days.

[ACAST]

Actually, like one month this week.

[Charlie Webster]

Wow.

[ACAST]

Yeah.

[Charlie Webster]

Was that a hard decision for you?

[ACAST]

In some ways, yes. Because it's something I like doing in our agency. We have cycled back to the streets. That wasn't something I was interested doing at 51.

[Charlie Webster]

Wow, you look really good for your age. Unless you put this, like, one of those filters over the top.

[ACAST]

No, no, no. No filters. No filters for me. But I appreciate that.

[Charlie Webster]

What was the first bit of information when Nancy called you?

[ACAST]

Well, the setting at the. The time. So our police department was experiencing a mass exodus from political decisions made from city council and the mayor at the time. By the end of that whole exodus, there was only, like, maybe just under 800 officers for a city of about 1.2 million. So. And to put it in perspective, that's what was happening. Unfortunately, the Financial Crimes Unit is. Is not, for lack of better terms, the sexy unit, like, you know, homicide or robbery. Their financial crimes is in the back burner. And so they're the first unit to take a loss in. In minimizing the unit. I had returned back to this unit, and they dwindled it from three people to me. So I was the only person in the city of San Jose looking at financial crime cases for about two years. Nobody knew that because I couldn't say it, because it would have opened the door to even more criminal activity, because then everybody Knows nobody's watching the barn. So that's when Nancy had sent me a message. So what would happen was I was literally looking at like 700 cases in a month, just triaging them, looking at them, doing something with, outsourcing them, using my resources to kind of bridge the gap on gathering evidence and so forth. I was pretty creative at that point just to get resources and working with district attorneys and other investigators. So I became a one man circus for a while. And so Nancy came across me, she gave me this info on this case. So what I would do in a lot of my cases was literally think about that case for weeks. Just kind of spin in my head. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about a case like, oh, I know what I could do with this. This was kind of one of those cases where Nancy kept feeding information about this blog that was going on with Ms. Riley. And so I'm going to take a look at that blog.

[Marc Maron]

My painful neuropathy pains and headaches from post chemo symptoms are making me pretty miserable. I get to use my story and my fight to help raise money for research to support others in the fight. Thank you to everyone who had donated anything. I would have had to stop treatment a long time ago without your kindness.

[ACAST]

My first thought was, how am I going to prove a medical case with HIPAA laws in place, which is the confidential, you know, confidentiality for State of.

[Charlie Webster]

California, HIPAA laws are patient confidentiality laws that basically prohibit disclosure of medical records without a court ordered warrant, a subpoena, or a patient's consent. Even a San Jose detective can't request or access them.

[ACAST]

And I thought somebody may or may not being untruthful with their medical situation, in this case cancer. But how am I going to prove it? So I started surfing through the blog. I realized Nancy had told me she's throwing a lot of information out on this blog that was specific. So the specificity of it allowed me to actually nail down something.

[Marc Maron]

Quick health updates. I've been diagnosed with atelectasis on my right lung, which is basically a fancy word for a partially collapsed lung. They aren't entirely sure why. There are lots of predictions though, including the bleomycin and adromycin have caused massive scarring and shrinkage of my lungs. The tumors that were in my lung caused issues. All the toxicity in my body is caused.

[ACAST]

I gotta ask myself, well, is it truthful? If I was doing it, what's the first thing I would go after? I would put things out on social media because People believe what they see first. And she's the one populating the social media. So that was the thing. Like, okay, she's the one pushing all this. It's not anybody else. They're just responding to her. So she has the wheel. I just got to show whether or not she's driving something legitimate or not.

[Charlie Webster]

The fact that you had so many cases and you were severely understaffed, what was it about this one that made you pursue it?

[ACAST]

I have a kind of a theory or a philosophy. Persistence pays. In my cases that have gone on for years, persistence pays, and you just keep coming at it. Nancy had kind of embodied that persistence. The persistence kind of kept me looking at this page and looking at the pictures and looking at the videos. I thought, wow, I know a lot of people who had cancer. At the end, they look awful. And I thought Amanda saying she was terminal, like, a number of times. But she looks great. That's great skin, nice little, you know, face to her. She's a cute girl, you know, okay, she shaved her head. But I'm asking myself, does she look sick? And if I'm telling myself, no, she doesn't look sick. So maybe there's something to this information.

[Marc Maron]

Cancer is ugly. I often hear how good I look for being so sick. But people don't see behind closed doors how horrible this disease is. So here's a more truthful, honest look at what cancer looks like. Eyes almost swollen shut from allergies to new chemo meds. Rashes under my eyes from chemo. Swollen limbs and joint pain. IVs and scans all the time. Blood pressure and pulse problems.

[Charlie Webster]

Amanda posted pictures on this blog of exactly this. There is a picture of her eyes, red, puffy and swollen, her knees full of rashes. And a picture of an IV bag in hospital alongside a blood pressure monitor.

[ACAST]

I think I probably would have dropped off from it if Nancy would have called a few times and then just said, okay, well, you know, just. You're busy. It takes persistence. You advocate when you have something that you feel like you need to unveil, especially something as dark as this. And it's so strange and so weird. And when you feel like you need to unveil that thing and you need somebody just to believe you for a second. I felt like she was there. So I thought, you know, I'm going to entertain this.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

I was used to, like, people I worked with or people I would bring it up to say, you're crazy. Who would. Who would do that? There was never, like, oh, you're right. That's it. She doesn't have cancer. Like, that never was the case. And so with Detective Martinez, at least I felt like, okay, he's listening. I think at one point I may have said, oh, you're going down the rabbit hole with me. This is great. He was willing to at least look.

[ACAST]

Once I was pursuing the case, I would set aside, like, hours in a day to make phone calls to get organizational criteria as to how somebody who had an illness like cancer qualifies to receive monies or assistance or resources or whatever, and they would not answer the questions. And I said, it's a simple question. So then I was calling actual hospitals, the doctors. And then that's when I realized the doctors she was naming weren't some weren't actual doctors and some weren't oncologists.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

How come all these organizations are just giving and finding her houses or helping with things? There's no stepping stones that they have to take, you know, And I think that was something we talked about, like, wow, that is easy. Like, we were shocked at how easy that could be, that no one questions it too.

[Marc Maron]

Thank you to American Cancer Society for giving me a free place to stay in NYC and amazing events like Relay for Life. All the amazing opportunities cancer has given me through this organization, from support walks and banquets, hockey fights, cancer and NFL's crucial catch.

[ACAST]

It was concerning to understand that there was really no, you know, hard criteria. It was just that you're saying it and you probably wouldn't be saying if you didn't have it. That was concerning.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

There's a real, like, ick factor with pointing the finger at someone and saying, I think they're faking cancer.

[Marc Maron]

After a lot of consultation with my doctors, it was nicely broken to me that if I'm still willing to fight, this is about to get exceedingly more difficult than it already is. As of right now, the only drug left I can try doesn't even have an active trial in the United States. My doctor in New York would have to agree to administer it to me. For that to happen, I have to pass 28 assessment tests to make sure I meet the qualifications. Since this is not an FDA approved drug, it can't be administered by my doctors here, meaning I have to fly to NYC every three weeks for the foreseeable future to get the drug. Of course, not covered by the hospital. It's $12,500 a month. What? Who can pay for that for just the drug? Pembrola's mob Keytruda.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

In Amanda's blog, she Kept her followers up to speed on all her trips going back and forth to New York from San Jose, California. So she would fly back and forth, that's a 3,000 mile flight across country to receive what she said was a clinical trial for this drug, Keytruda.

[Charlie Webster]

The cost of the new clinical trial in New York was not just spoken about in the blog.

[Amanda Riley]

When I first started my clinical trial in New York, insurance said no more. Sorry.

[Charlie Webster]

Amanda also talked about it at church. She gave a testimony with Pastor Chase Wiggins on stage to a massive crowd detailing how hard it was going to be to come up with the money. This is real audio of Amanda.

[Amanda Riley]

The startup costs just to do the testing to get the drug to try to keep me Alive was $3,000 up front. In two weeks, I had two weeks to come up with $3,000.

[Charlie Webster]

The average Sunday church service at FCC would see nearly 4,000 people attending.

[Amanda Riley]

We prayed about it. I was crying.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

One thing I noticed right away is Amanda would talk about facilities or names of the places she was going, but there was never any mention of the actual doctors or nurses or the people, you know, that were basically saving her life on a daily basis. It was always very generic. And that stood out to me as strange. I started to research about medications and clinical trials. Didn't make sense to me because you can look on ClinicalTrials.gov and search the medications and where they're. They're doing these trials. And a couple of things didn't add up with that. You know, locally she, she lived near Stanford University, which has probably one of the best cancer programs in the country, but yet she wasn't being treated there. She had to fly to New York. I just kept thinking, well, that's weird. And they had the same clinical trials, they had the same things she was claiming to need in New York. It just left me with so many questions like why is she going to New York?

[Marc Maron]

The big NYC strikes again. Traveled back east for my biopsy and entrance screening for a clinical trial.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

She was flying back and forth and she posted about how it went there and, you know, how sick she was and all these things that happened while she was in New York.

[Marc Maron]

Friday morning was biopsy day. More pre screens and the operation. The three tumors on my right lung are all on the exterior and all encapsulated like little grapes rather than sewn on patches. So they were able to remove one easily. They didn't have to break my ribs like they thought, thank God. After eight hours of tests, I got to see Wicked on Broadway. Finally I got to see the Times Square New Year's ball and Rockefeller tree. While watching the ice skaters, two of my other lifelong bucket list items checked.

[ACAST]

I started looking at those blogs and her pictures and her videos. And the thing is, I try not to get emotional in the case. And it's hard, you know, when people who have been sick with cancer, etc. Because if you tie an emotion to it, it gives you a different direction. I'm not trying to reach an end. I just want to reach the truth. And those are sometimes two different things. I want to see this person go down, right? You can tell yourself that, but what if they truly do have cancer? So what you tell yourself is, I just want to see what the real truth is here. Because they're the one putting it out. They're the one laying out in front of me. They're asking for my money, right? Not just, not just all these people, but me too. I'm looking at it, right? My family could be on these sites, my family could be in these social media circles, and I want to know.

[Amanda Riley]

The treatment is immensely expensive. We could barely come up with the money to pay for these when they were every three weeks. I remember crying out to God, you've had me this far. You've never left me, right? But how are we going to do this? That's a lot of money. How are we going to do this? So of course, I'm literally walking on the airplane volunteers. So now I'm the girl with cancer on the airplane wearing a mask, crying. And I'm like, fantastic. But the person that sat next to me, I always try to make him feel more comfortable. I mean, I'm wearing a mask. And I said, don't worry, I'm not going to get you sick. I'm not contagious. I just have to work to protect myself. And she said, oh, are you neutropenic? She said, I'm a family medical practitioner in West Virginia. Then I fell asleep because chemo makes me tired. And I woke up in San Jose and I walked off the plane and I reached in my jacket pocket to get my cell phone out to find this. A check for $1300. I never told her how much my treatment was. I just told her it was expensive. My treatment is $1300.

[ACAST]

And once I tie into something where I want to know, then it's going to be a ball game. I didn't want to reach out too quickly, so I kept on looking at the information she was offering. I called all these people. I spent hours on the phone Gone in circles with people who are running these organizations. The hospitals are kicking me back. That's when I rolled the dice a little bit. And then I went to the actual church where she called her home church. And ironically that same church, the police department uses it for their ceremonies, for like promotion, for their big grand ceremonies because they have a pretty big auditorium. So that church was kind of married into our police department. And so I thought, oh my God, I'm about to step on some toes right now. So I went over there to have a conversation with the head pastor and they asked the same question. Why would she say she had cancer if she didn't? You're going down the wrong direction. You're going after somebody. And I said, well, I'm not actually after her. Again, back to the, the premise. I'm after the truth. So do you know the truth? Well, the truth is that she said she had cancer and we believe her. I understand that, but do you know? Well, look at her. She had Ken. Do you see her, you know, her social media, etc. I said, yeah, I could shave my head and put an oxygen tube on. Do you think I have cancer? If I just told you, you're just going to believe me. So I said, what's the criteria here at the church being that you're a non profit organization and I don't know how much money you've poured out to this person, but what's your qualification process and the criteria? Where does it begin? Where you start giving away the money to somebody who says, hey, I have this. They wouldn't answer that question. So I called a few more times and then, then I got the pastor's daughter. She was a lawyer and so she kind of gave me the same position that I was barking up the wrong tree. This, you know, I'm pursuing somebody who's sick and this is not something that I should be doing. I should be going after the big criminals. I said, okay, but I asked her the same question, but how do you know? Right? And I said, you can't answer the question, you just believe. So now she's got two things going for her. She's got HIPAA shielding her. And she sold you on the idea that she sold on what you belief too. Faith. But do you have faith in her or do you have faith in the truth? My feeling was they weren't going to give me nothing. I was going to fight a losing battle and I had already kind of rolled the dice because I had tilted my cards at them and I knew they were going to call her. And then everybody who was a member of that church, who might know her, who might be fans of her, they were going to call them.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

I hadn't spoke to the church at that point because I was still continually fat. Because she was posting at this point was like when she was posting a lot.

[Marc Maron]

Blood tests came back and confirmed again that even though the cancerous cell and tumors are still in stable disease, the Reed Sternberg cells are progressing and have nearly doubled.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

So I was continually fact checking anything she put up. And like Detective Martinez said, like trying to send it his way and just say, hey, can you believe she's saying this? Or she's saying that, being very blunt.

[Marc Maron]

If the chemo doesn't work, I can't do the trial anymore. And if I can't do the trial, this becomes a quality of life game rather than a beat cancer game. For the record, this is the shittiest worst game ever.

[Mahasti]

I told all my friends, my family in Los Angeles and my sister told all her friends because she was going through her own cancer, breast cancer. Told all her friends, which are a lot of anonymous donors. I told a lot of people I knew over in San Jose and one of them is very wealthy and she donated money. One day, Amanda and Corey come to pick up the baby. Amanda turn around, tells me as she's leaving, we were all in the front yard, the kids were on the same. She says, well, thank you, rich friend for giving hundred dollars to my foundation. I didn't even know how much my friend gave. My mouth just dropped. How ungrateful, the way you said it. Even a dollar, you should be grateful. That was the time my whole thing started with them. Like, is she for real? She talks like that about people.

[Charlie Webster]

What was her reaction? What did she say to you?

[Mahasti]

No, I didn't say that to her. I didn't. I kept it in my mind. I didn't open my mouth. No, yeah, I kept it. No, I'm too smart for that. Because she probably would have. I don't know what she would have done. She would have probably called social services and complain about my daycare. You know what I mean? I had to watch what I'm saying. A lot of times.

[Rebecca Kiffiro]

We would talk.

[Charlie Webster]

Via text, Amanda's friend, Rebecca Kiffiro, because.

[Rebecca Kiffiro]

At that time, well, one, I was like donating really actively. So I felt like they were keeping me up in the loop. I was also reading the blog and, you know, she would let me know when she needed to fly back to New York for a treatment because I would purchase the plane tickets for her.

[Marc Maron]

Teamamanda helped raise nearly 25% of my medical expenses and medication for this trip so far, which let me tell you are not cheap and my flight first class. Woohoo. If anyone has extra points they don't need or connections and wants to help me get back there for my second dose, we would really appreciate it. I'm working part time to help cover bills but the CO pays. Medicines and tests still add up so fast.

[Rebecca Kiffiro]

Either I would just buy them or we had a ton of Southwest points. We had a Southwest credit card and had more points than I could use. So we would always use our points to book her her trips back. And we introduced her to a friend of ours in New York that she stayed with while she was undergoing treatment. I had an account that was all health products related cleansing products, like you know, vegan products, like all these nutritional supplements and stuff, stuff and I was using it so something I was using that I loved. And Amanda, I remember like after she was coming off chemo or something, she was like complaining about all the weight she gained from steroids and just feeling like she needed to like do something. And so I was like, well you know, you could try the stuff I'm using. So I just shipped her stuff. Like I just, you know, put in an order and sent it to her house and she loved it and she was like oh my gosh, it's making me feel better, the energy, etc. So I just set up an account for her with my credit card and I never even looked at how much was spent, but it was hundreds of dollars a month for years.

[Charlie Webster]

Amanda loved the shake so much she ended up becoming an ambassador for them and posted about it on her blog with a picture and a T shirt that had the words straight outta chemo on the front. The flights to New York that Rebecca paid for Amanda also raised money for from the church.

[Marc Maron]

My mom always told me to see the positive in things. So on a positive note, I got a job. Actually I got two jobs. I get to share the nutritional shakes I've literally been living on the past year and I get to work for a major cancer organization to manage their corporate accounts for fundraising. Both work towards helping people. Yes. For the non profit I get to help raise money to ensure other people might not have to go through this. I am so excited.

[Charlie Webster]

But the two part time jobs were nowhere near enough to support the family. Amanda still needed support from the people around her, including her closest friends like Rebecca.

[Rebecca Kiffiro]

I told her whatever you need on occasionally I would Send her like door dash or like, can I buy him, Can I buy you guys dinner tonight? But I wasn't tabulating it, cuz it wasn't alone. It wasn't, it was a gift. It was me wanting to make her life a little bit easier because I just had an inkling of how difficult what she was going through was. I'd always been interested in photography. Like, I'd just always loved it. So I had photographed her wedding, I'd photographed her maternity shoot. I photographed their family photos every year for five or six years.

[Charlie Webster]

When you were photographing them, what was their relationship like? And what was Corey like?

[Rebecca Kiffiro]

Corey always seemed uncomfortable. He always seemed like he didn't want to be there when they showed up. It seemed like they had just had a fight. And Amanda was a lot better about putting on a happy face than he was. I remember asking Amanda at one of the family photo shoots. I just had seen her mom. They were buying a place in Lake Arrowhead or somewhere. They were buying a vacation home. And you know, talking about it on social media and I just remember thinking, wait a second. Amanda is raising money for treatment to save her life and her mom is buying a vacation property. Like, this just doesn't make sense. And I asked Amanda and she's like, you know what, Rebecca? We have a really complicated relationship. I love my mom. I know, like this is really bizarre. And I didn't press her further, so I thought it was odd. That started to like, put some questions in my head.

[ACAST]

Amanda knew that I was looking at her. So then I was like, okay, what is she gonna do? Then it was just waiting, you know, it's like putting your fish in, you know, hook in the line and throwing and casting it out and just, let's see what, what she does now. Like, is she gonna post this? She's gonna blog this? Is she gonna come here? She, she was going to call me. She had my card, she had all my information, all that stuff, but she.

[Charlie Webster]

Didn'T do any of that. She walked straight into the San Jose Police Department and dropped off a stack of papers addressed to Detective Jose Martinez.

[ACAST]

She brought this printout of all these medications that were cancer based medications, recovery, chemo or whatever. I was looking at like Keytruda was one of them. That was a fairly new medication.

[Marc Maron]

I'll never forget the sheer looks of horror on your faces as you all cringed to what my insides looked like. Hundreds and hundreds of little dark grapevines everywhere. After eight doses of Keytruda, my insides were looking better, but still so much Darkness.

[ACAST]

So she shows me this list printed from a website. She left it at the police department to be given to me. She knows I'm going to qualify this, sending me this website. So I looked up the website, I researched it, and the website was basically a website that any of us could add our medication to. We're, we're self populating the website. I could have put anything on there. And so I realized she could put anything on there. So she thinks I'm just gonna stop at her list of medications. And that just opened the door even more because now I knew she was trying to deceive me. She was sending me down another road. And then that really sparked me. I called her just to make sure that she was the one who dropped off the paperwork. So it tied herself to it. And she's all, see, I gave you what you need. I'm sick and here's all the medications I take. She told me she had an attorney. And I said, that's great, that's wonderful. So are you going to be communicating through your attorney? So she was like, yep. I said, okay, I got it. I'm looking at it, so I'll be in touch.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

It was really hard to see everyone donating and, and helping and, and doing so much. And really the few times I did reach out or try to, I don't want to say warn people, but I wanted people to be aware that there was something going on. And I had ways of doing that. It led to, you know, I was vilified. I was this, who is this person coming in? And how dare they. I let the family know, the brothers that, hey, you know, there's, what do you guys think? You're running this thing? And I'm a reporter. This is where I'm working and I want to know where this money's going. Up until that point, I had been doing everything behind the scenes, talking to wherever I could without tipping my hand. Aleda and I would touch base several times a week just because there was new information coming out all the time. Amanda would post something and I would check with Alida. Aleta would hear something and she would let me know. It was really important for us to compare stuff back and forth because, you know, I may say something like, oh, I saw this in the blog and this is how that happened. And she would say, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, I know about that. And that is not what I remember or do. This is how it happened. So just comparing things, keeping track of the information was really important. Nobody believed me. Everybody thought I was you know, just.

[Charlie Webster]

Being vindictive, scorned, ex wife, whatever you.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

Want, however you want to put it. But I was crying out to get my daughter help. Nobody would listen.

[Charlie Webster]

Sometimes I would call Nancy crying.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

Sometimes I'd call her mad.

[Charlie Webster]

Sometimes we'd just be comparing notes, and.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

You know, I would let her know what's going on with Jessa.

[Charlie Webster]

It felt good to have somebody listen.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

Yeah, nobody would listen, and she listened to me, and we kind of put our heads together. Next thing you know, we got this big investigation going on. I spoke to Detective Martinez, and he had told me he reached out to Amanda, and they had this back and forth. At that point, I don't think Amanda knew about me yet. Amanda, I think, found out about me during a custody hearing. Alida had called and asked if it was okay if she brought up the fact that I was investigating Amanda. And at that point, it was an official investigation with San Jose Police Department through Detective Martinez. So they were able to bring it up in one of their court proceedings for the custody case. Amanda was telling everybody that I was just a friend of Aleda's, that Alita had basically come up with this story and that was using me to play this part like it was just all made up. I actually thought it best that I wrote a letter that Aleda and her attorney could give to the court to say, I am not a friend of Aleda's. I am a producer, and this is what I'm working on, and that I was working on this without Alita. This didn't come from Aleda. It made absolutely no difference to Amanda that the truth was being told and. And submitted to the court. As far as she was concerned, it was a better story that this came from Aleda, and it was just all a lie.

[Charlie Webster]

And in case Nancy had any doubt about whether Amanda knew she existed, the.

[Amanda C. Reilly]

First time I noticed something in the blog, she called me the enemy. She just said, there's an enemy out there. You know who you are. She referred to me a couple of times as just the enemy. Don't ruin this for me, enemy. Why are you ruining this for me? She would be posting about a job, that she was up for a job. She would say, don't ruin this for me, enemy. I've got this interview tomorrow. I think she thought I was going to, like, call places and try and ruin things for her. She was putting it out there like someone's trying to ruin me. There's a reporter. There's a person. It's like the ex wife. I came home from work. It was a Friday night. It was a holiday weekend, so I remember it so clearly. And I was getting the mail out of my mailbox, and I opened it up, and it's just stuffed with paper. And I. It's like. It was strange, right? So I'm looking through it, and I'm like, what is this? And I see the name Amanda Riley. I see Nancy Muscatello. I'm like, man, what is this? I see restraining order, civil harassment. And my mind is catching up to what I'm reading and putting it together. Like, oh, my God. She was taking me to court for a restraining order. Amanda Riley wanted to stop me investigating her by hitting me with a restraining order.

[Charlie Webster]

Scamander is hosted and produced by me, Charlie Webster and Produced by Jackson McLennan. Amanda's blog posts are read by actor Kendall Horn, edit and theme music by Nico Palella Estate assistant producer Casey Hertz, assistant editor Seema Graywall. Additional production support from Stephen Sletton, Will Hagel, and Nicole Urban. Executive produced by me, Charlie Webster and Nancy Moscatello. Scamander is a Lionsgate sound production engineered by Pilgrim Media Group.

[ACAST]

SA.