Is There A Doctor In The House?

Summary

The Unborn: Episode Summary - "Is There A Doctor In The House?"

In the gripping episode titled “Is There A Doctor In The House?” from The Unborn podcast by iHeartPodcasts, listeners are plunged into the unraveling of a seemingly perfect small-town marriage that conceals dark secrets. Hosted by Jared Gustav and Tricia Lafache, the episode delves deep into the mysterious behaviors of Kristy Akron, revealing layers of deception, potential child abduction, and the collapse of familial bonds.

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1. The Perfect Facade: Jared and Kristy Akron

Jared and Kristy Akron epitomized the idyllic small-town life in Pennsylvania. With a recent wedding, a new home, and the joyous anticipation of twins, their life appeared flawless. However, as Jared begins to perceive inconsistencies and oddities in Kristy's actions, the veneer of perfection starts to crack.

Notable Quote:

Jared: “16 plus hours unaccounted for. In the hospital, we have Jared locked out of the birth, confined to his car.”
[00:40]

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2. Cracks Begin to Show: Suspicious Behaviors

Kristy's behavior becomes increasingly erratic, raising Jared's suspicions. She engages in secretive doctor visits, engages in odd late-night activities, and insists on keeping Jared at a distance, leading him to question the legitimacy of her pregnancy.

Notable Quote:

Jared: “From Christy's side, we have her text messages to Jared. We have the photoshopped images of the two babies with the placard Jared sent in with her.”
[00:40]

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3. Rumors of Baby Snatching and the BOLO Alert

As Jared investigates, he uncovers alarming rumors suggesting that Kristy might be involved in baby snatching. Local hospital staff, including Nelson Henry, a pediatric ICU nurse, share insights about a BOLO (Be On Lookout) alert issued for both Kristy and Jared, labeling them as "infant security risks."

Notable Quote:

Henry: “I felt sad for him that he was getting drugged through all that. And I felt like I was screaming at people, this is not Jared.”
[07:42]

The BOLO alert detailed that Kristy was suspected of attempting to kidnap a baby, and Jared was confined to ensure he did not interfere. This dual alert raised questions about their true intentions and the lengths Kristy might go to protect her fabricated life.

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4. A History of Kidnapping Attempts at the Hospital

The hospital where Kristy gave birth had previously experienced a similar incident eight years prior, where a baby was kidnapped by an impostor posing as a nurse. This history adds a layer of complexity and fear, highlighting potential systemic vulnerabilities within the hospital's security protocols.

Notable Quote:

Tricia Lafache: “The wanted sign that Jared is referring to is actually a BOLO alert... the BOLO alert has three pictures of Christy on it, and over her picture it reads infant security Risk.”
[05:43]

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5. The Abrianna Moore Case: A Chilling Parallel

The episode recounts the case of Abrianna Moore, who in 2012, posed as a nurse to abduct a newborn from McGee Hospital. Moore’s meticulous planning, including purchasing hospital scrubs and creating fake sonograms, mirrors Kristy's suspected tactics. Moore’s eventual capture and sentencing underscore the severity and reality of such crimes.

Notable Quote:

Abrianna Moore: “I'm so sorry. I regret my actions and accept responsibility.”
[13:36]

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6. Kristy's Elaborate Deceptions: Fake Tests and Social Media Manipulation

Kristy employed various methods to convince Jared and others of her pregnancy. She used fake pregnancy tests, fake sonograms, and manipulated social media to present a convincing front. Additionally, Kristy fabricated medical appointments, ensuring that Jared received medical bills that further validated her deceit.

Notable Quote:

Jared: “She Snapchatted her positive pregnancy test for all to see, but she was sure to cut off the identifying factor of at the right time.”
[20:10]

Tricia Lafache examines the plausibility of these deceptions, highlighting the availability of fake medical documents and the technical feasibility of Kristy's actions.

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7. Family Dynamics and the Ripple Effect

Kristy's manipulations not only disrupted her marriage but also had profound effects on their extended families. Jared’s siblings, who were close to Kristy, were heartbroken upon discovering the truth. The strained relationships extended to Jared’s grandmother, who previously maintained a close bond with Kristy's grandmother, now marred by resentment.

Notable Quote:

Tricia Lafache: “This whole thing actually had a pretty big toll on my brothers and sisters.”
[38:29]

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8. The Breaking Point: Unveiling the Truth

As Jared pieces together the inconsistencies, the truth emerges that Kristy was never truly pregnant. The revelation not only shatters Jared’s trust but also exposes Kristy’s elaborate scheme to defraud their relationship and possibly engage in child abduction.

Notable Quote:

Tricia Lafache: “Christie My wife ended up waking me up... all the wheels fell off and everybody wanted their money back and it turned into a little bit.”
[41:07]

Kristy’s plan spirals out of control, culminating in a house fire and escalating tensions, ultimately leading to the exposure of her deceit.

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9. Reflections and Insights: Understanding the Motives

The episode concludes by exploring potential motivations behind Kristy’s actions. Discussions with mental health professionals and survivors of similar deceptions suggest underlying psychological issues, such as pseudocyesis (phantom pregnancy) or other psychosomatic disorders that could drive such elaborate fabrications.

Notable Quote:

Henry: “There is something that is not right in her. Like there's a chemical imbalance there that is making her 100% believe or have an ulterior motive of why she was doing that.”
[34:24]

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Conclusion: A Web of Lies and Heartbreak

“Is There A Doctor In The House?” masterfully intertwines personal narratives, expert testimonies, and investigative journalism to unveil a story of love, deception, and the devastating impact of hidden truths. Jared and Kristy Akron’s story serves as a poignant reminder of the complexities within relationships and the catastrophic consequences that can ensue when trust is eroded by manipulation and deceit.

Final Notable Quote:

Tricia Lafache: “I felt deceived, but I felt relief. I felt so much relief that two children didn't pass on. I felt 10 times better.”
[40:21]

This episode leaves listeners contemplating the fragile nature of reality and the lengths individuals may go to protect their crafted lives, offering a chilling exploration of truth unraveling one clue at a time.

Transcript

[Sloan Glass]

Hi, listeners. I'm Sloan Glass, the host of American Homicide, a podcast where we take you across the country to investigate some of America's deadliest crimes. We'll explore how these murders are shaped by their unique landscapes and in turn, how these tragedies have shaped the fabric of these American communities forever. And you can get access to all episodes of American Homicide 100% ad free and one week early through the iHeart True Crime plus subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So don't wait. Head to Apple podcasts, search for iheart true crime, and subscribe today.

[Jared]

16 plus hours unaccounted for. In the hospital, we have Jared locked out of the birth, confined to his car. From Christy's side, we have her text messages to Jared. We have the photoshopped images of the two babies with the placard Jared sent in with her. We have the fact that Christy was escorted out of the hospital by two police officers who told Jared she was not allowed back on the premises without an appointment. And we have the good old fashioned western Pennsylvania rumor mill.

[Molly]

So my sales guy, whose wife was a nurse at one of the local.

[Jared]

Hospitals and one of the leaders of that rumor mill was Henry.

[Molly]

And she, like, called a couple of her buddies that works at the hospital. She said that there was a lady there, that they suspected that she was hanging around a nurs, and they were suspecting her of wanting to steal babies. So that, like, bred like wildfire. And that's when they. That's when they threw her out of the hospital.

[Jared]

Molly heard it, too.

[Gretchen]

I can't confirm that that was true, but from her being kicked out of the hospital and the restraining order, I think that's what we assumed. Especially since I want to say that my personal opinion is that she had planned to kill the one baby off, and then since the one baby was dead. Excuse me, bring another baby home. So potentially, she could have stole a baby. Did she? Thank God she didn't. But I think if she went through this whole nine months of tricking everybody, stealing a baby wouldn't be that far off.

[Jared]

Even Jared's father, David, had a theory on how Christy was able to remain under the radar.

[Tricia Lafache]

I don't know how she checked herself in the hospital. We're thinking she used her maiden name so then Jared couldn't call over and find out what happened or any of that kind of stuff.

[Jared]

In spite of all this talk, no one could really understand exactly what was going on.

[Tricia Lafache]

How did this all happen? I'm like, I don't know. I said, it doesn't make sense. How do you everything in the morning, we're getting texts, we're getting pictures, everything else. Then all of a sudden it just stops. You don't get anything.

[Jared]

There was a lot of hurt and confusion.

[Gretchen]

I think it was. For me, the hardest part is you could have had a mist miscarriage or whatever, but for you to give birth and then be like, oh, they died. Just mind boggles me.

[Jared]

Yeah.

[Gretchen]

Like it's, it's. I don't even know who thinks like that.

[Tricia Lafache]

She was throwing a fit in the hospital, grabbing scissors and all these things. And she was detained. So they ran a search warrant on her.

[Jared]

All of the pieces of information just led to more questions. But Jared knew one thing for certain.

[Tricia Lafache]

Like there was a wanted signup. If you see this person on a.

[Jared]

Maternity ward or NICU or.

[Tricia Lafache]

And they put my name on there too. I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. They put my name on there. It was like, if you see these two people.

[Jared]

Jared's photograph is now hanging at all the local hospitals right next to Christie's. A modern day Bonnie and Clyde of baby snatch. I'm Tricia lafache. I'm a writer, director, actor and federal criminal defense attorney. I'm going to tell you a story that's all too real, about love, lies, and the lengths people will go to for attention. It's a story that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about truth, about reality, and about what happens when the two collide in the most unimaginable way. From audio up and just we press productions, this is the unborn. The wanted sign that Jared is referring to is actually a be on the lookout or BOLO alert. And it's the first piece of concrete evidence that we have that Christy was in fact detained and escorted out of the hospital, not because of a warrant for an unpaid speeding ticket, but but because she was suspected of attempting to kidnap at least one baby. And how I know that for sure? The title of the BOLO alert reads infant Security Risk. I have it here in front of me and I'm going to read it in its entirety as well as describe it. Now, the BOLO alert has three pictures of Christy on it, and over her picture it reads infant security Risk. Christy Akron, with her date of birth, is not permitted on ground unless seeking medical attention. If seen immediately contact MWH police and security. The phone number to the police is listed as well as the fact that she drives a burgundy SUV. And the SUV's Pennsylvania license plate is listed on the other side of the bolo. Is Jared's photo. And it's just one photo. And over his photo, it reads infant security risk with his date of birth. And then all of the same information listed under Christie's BOLO with her three photos. Most notably that he is not allowed on grounds unless seeking medical attention, and that if he is seen on the grounds, the police should be contacted immediately. We spoke to a nurse who works in the hospital about an hour from where Christy gave birth. Her name is Gretchen.

[Henry]

I'm a peds ICU nurse.

[Jared]

Not only did Gretchen see the bolo, it was hanging in her unit.

[Henry]

Yeah, those were the ones that were hung up.

[Jared]

To be fair, the BOLO does look like a wanted sign. It's an entire 8 by 11 piece of paper that contains Christie's information and her three photographs. And beside it is Jared's information and one photograph from his driver's license. Christie's photos. One is from her driver's license, a second from her Facebook profile. And they both look like the bubbly girl people had described her as. The third photo, however, stands out in sharp contrast. It's her mug shot from that evening when she was detained at the hospital. Her hair is pulled into a disheveled bun. Her mask is hanging, still attached to her left ear. She appears to be wearing a hospital gown. And her facial expression, she looks not just sad, but lost, despondent. Gretchen and Jared are not strangers. Their parents are friends. Jared is older than Gretchen by a couple years. And while they are not as close as Jared and Molly, Gretchen feels like she knows Jared pretty well. I asked her what it felt like to see her friend's photo hung up all over her hospital on the BOLO alert, labeling him as an infant security risk.

[Henry]

I felt sad for him that he was getting drugged through all that. And I felt like I was screaming at people, this is not Jared. This is not him. He is not going to take any kids from this unit. And I think people looked at me like, you are crazy. Because they're like, you don't know that. But like, I was like, I 110%. I would put money on it. I'd put my life on it. That Jared was not coming into that facility to take a child. Was Christy? I don't know. But I knew Jared was not coming into that facility.

[Gretchen]

Her feet.

[Jared]

Feelings of Jared's innocence aside, Gretchen said that it was not uncommon for hospitals to share information about suspicious activity on maternity wars.

[Henry]

Anytime there's like a suspicious activity, it's passed around to each hospital. And if there's A. They call them baby snatchers. If there's, like, a person in the area that is known to try to break into a hospital, like, there are pictures posted on everywhere. We can, like, watch for these people. We're on lockdown. To get in and out of the facility, you always have to have, like, a swipe badge. And they're, like, extra cautious during those times.

[Jared]

As it relates to Jared and Christy, however, she heard something a little bit more specific.

[Henry]

Hey, there's this mom and dad that are claiming they had babies and they didn't. And the dad's confused as to where these babies are. Like, just be cautious, because that's a big sign of baby snatching.

[Jared]

Security and staff are not playing around when it comes the safety on the ward.

[Henry]

Babies have a. What's basically like an ankle monitor on, so they put this little tag on them when they're born. And the second that they get even close to a door, everything locks down. Nine times out of 10, on a unit that has kids, there's panic buttons. And now a lot of floors in general have panic buttons. So if something happened, you can press the panic button. And it also alerts the police.

[Jared]

It's not just the babies whose movement is limited. It's all patients and guests who are given a badge to keep them where they're supposed to be.

[Henry]

That badge only gets them if they're supposed to be on the eighth floor. It only gets them to the eighth floor. They can go from the lobby to the eighth floor and back down. They can't stop on any other floors. They can't roam around the hospital, anything like that.

[Jared]

As much as Gretchen was put off by the BOLO because she knew Jared was not a risk, she wasn't surprised by it.

[Henry]

They're everywhere in a hospital. It's like, be on the lookout for this person. Be on the lookout for this person. It is beating your head. It's in your email. It's posted everywhere. You see that. And then it's like, oh, gosh, I see them. You're doing whatever you can to, like, keep them right where they're at.

[Jared]

Gretchen knew that the hospital where Christy gave birth had its own police force. In addition to hospital security, bigger hospitals.

[Henry]

Have their own police force. I mean, they are police officers. They carry guns. They are able to arrest you. They are able to find you. They are able to do whatever they need to do. Smaller hospitals oftentimes have security officers, but the hospital that she was at was a hospital with a security team inside and a police team outside.

[Jared]

The Level of security where Christy gave birth is very high. But sometimes even the best laid plans don't always work out. It wasn't the first time this hospital had dealt with a potential baby snatcher. In fact, eight years prior, this happened at the same hospital on the same ward. When we heard about it, time seemed to stop.

[Tricia Lafache]

A newborn baby kidnapped from the hospital. Every minute feeling like a lifetime for his frightened family.

[Jared]

Somebody got my baby. Please, God, please return my grandson. We were with police tracking down every.

[Tricia Lafache]

And there when they put someone in cuffs. Right now, the search for baby Bryce.

[Jared]

Breaking news coverage starts right now.

[Tricia Lafache]

A tearful and desperate plea after a newborn baby is taken right from the hospital by a stranger wearing hospital scrubs. We've been breaking into programming all afternoon.

[Jared]

Initial news reports said that the kidnapper was posing as the mother's sister. That was false. She was posing as a hospital nurse, complete with hospital issued scrubs.

[Tricia Lafache]

Now, police swarmed here to the hospital when this was reported. That grandmother told me a woman posing as the mother's sister came in dressed in scrubs and somehow removed the baby from the nursery as the family was preparing to be discharged today.

[Jared]

Luckily, baby Bryce was found five hours after he was taken from the hospital.

[Abrianna Moore]

Abrianna Moore cried at her sentencing, saying it was the biggest mistake she's ever made. She apologized to the victim's family, to the staff at McGee, and to her own family. And in the end she was sentenced to jail time. 10 years probation and she must register as a Megan's Law offender for life. Take a look at the video. Moore pled guilty to taking three day old Bryce Coleman from McGee Hospital in August of 2012. She admitted to posing as a nurse and walking out of the hospital with a newborn that prosecutors say she put in a zippered bag. Five hours later, Moore was found hiding with a baby who was not hurt. She was facing as many as 60 years in jail, but in instead was sentenced to 30 to 60 months with credit for time served, which means she could be out in as little as eight months or spend the maximum time locked up, which amounts to another three years. Her attorney says Moore suffers from both mental and physical health issues that prevent her from having her own child.

[Jared]

For weeks prior to the abduction, Brianna told her family that she was pregnant, even posting pictures of her pregnant belly and sonograms on Facebook with the caption, oh my, I just want to give him so much love. Sound familiar? But Briana pled guilty and took accountability for her actions at her sentencing before the judge. Here's Briana's statement to the court at her sentencing.

[Abrianna Moore]

I'm so sorry. I regret my actions and accept responsibility. No mother should have to go through that heartbreak. You have been blessed with a beautiful baby boy. All I wanted was to love someone.

[Jared]

Unfortunately for this young lady, her story doesn't have a happy ending. Tragically, she passed away in prison while serving her sentence. She was 22 years old. We reached out to her attorney for comment and our calls were not answered. Brianna Moore obtained access to the maternity ward by purchasing hospital issued scrubs from a uniform store the day before her attempted baby nap. The protocol of the store is that employees are required to ask for proof that a person requesting scrubs actually works at the hospital they're requesting scrubs for. But they didn't follow that protocol. We weren't sure how Christy gained access to the ward, but Gretchen was able to provide some insight.

[Henry]

Any person coming into an ER seeking medical attention, they're going to take you in a room, they're going to put you in a gown, they're going to treat you. At that point, they're not there to say you're pregnant. You're not pregnant. I mean, we have patients all the time that you walk in their room and you're like, where did they go? They disappeared. You find them down in the cafeteria, you find them outside smoking, you find them all over creation.

[Jared]

Which fair. We knew that Christy went into the ER and got a hospital ID banned, she could have wandered out of the ER when no one was looking. But that wouldn't explain how she got access to a locked maternity ward until Gretchen said this.

[Henry]

So for her to make it somewhere else, or did they take her up there? You know, did the ER say we have a pregnant woman down here? They went down. Security escorted her up there. A lot of escorts in the hospital have security with them.

[Jared]

If Kristi entered the ER presenting as visibly pregnant and told them that her water broke, it's completely possible that they took her upstairs without giving her a thorough exam. That's a real probability. It would mean one less hurdle for Christy to sneak on the ward. But there's so much time unaccounted for, it seems she must have spent at least some of it in the er.

[Henry]

As soon as you go into an er, they put you in a gown and, you know, if something does happen, it's. You don't have clothes on that we're trying to cut off. We can put heart monitors on you quickly. Like a lot of them are snap. You can just pull them and they pop Right open and you can do whatever you need to do.

[Jared]

Was Christy erroneously escorted onto the maternity ward from the ER at the direction of hospital staff? Did she leave the ER and sneak onto the locked maternity ward? The truth is, we just don't know. Either way, Kristi looked pregnant visibly and would have been dressed for the part. We heard about fake sonograms and constant Facebook posts and the fact that Christy looked pregnant. But there were a lot more tangible ways that Christy was able to convince Jared and everyone around them that she was pregnant.

[Karl]

This show is sponsored by BetterHelp and I want to help you by reminding you to take a second to say thank you to someone in your life that you're grateful for. Could be your partner, your parent, your pet, or even your therapist. And also to thank yourself, which is a hard thing to do and easy to forget, for doing the things that you want to do and the things you don't want to do, which may include going to therapy. I recently restarted therapy, so I'm going to give myself a big thank you for that. One of the most rewarding parts of therapy is talking to someone who's completely objective, whose feelings you don't have to manage, who you don't have to worry about, what they'll think of you. If you're interested in starting or restarting therapy, I would encourage you to check out Better Help. It's all online, so you don't even have to leave your house. All you have to do is fill out a questionnaire to get matched up with a licensed therapist and you can switch therapists at any time at no additional charge. Let the gratitude flow with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com unborn today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp. H E L p.com unborn it's just one more thing you can thank yourself for.

[Unknown]

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[Sloan Glass]

I'm Sloan Glass, the host of American Homicide, a podcast where we take you across the country to investigate some of America's deadliest crimes. We'll explore how these murders are shaped by their unique landscapes and in turn, how these tragedies have shaped the fabric of these American communities forever. And you can get access to all episodes of American Homicide 100% ad free and one week early through the iHeart True Crime plus subscription available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for Iheart True Crime plus and subscribe today.

[Tricia Lafache]

The one thing that kind of jumps out in front of me is the at home pregnancy tests. It was, I think it was called at the right time. There was a two pack and she, she wanted to do this little box to keep. Like here's the first. When I would go to the hospital, here's my bracelet, here's the pregnancy test, which I thought was way out of whack. I mean, why would you want to keep something you peed on? That throws me off. But getting back to this pregnancy test, she made it a point to hey, come watch this turn into two lines.

[Jared]

Why would anyone want to keep something they peed on?

[Tricia Lafache]

So I'm looking back at it now and I did a couple searches of what an at home pregnancy test and what the brands are. And after the whole debacle of hey, I'm not pregnant, I type it in on Amazon. I'm like, fake pregnancy test. Up pops the first one at the right time. It's a picture of the box and everything as like an April Fool's prank. It's a fake pregnancy test, like 17 bucks. And that flipped my whole world upside down. It's all took 17 bucks. I didn't think anything. I didn't even know they made fake ones.

[Jared]

I also googled fake pregnancy tests, pregnancy tests that always come out positive. Not surprisingly, fake sonograms also came up in the search. And sure, they are labeled as pranks, April fools, joke, pregnancy, etc. Which I'm sure they label them that way for legal reasons. And Jared and I even discussed certain situations wherein, I guess it could be funny, but certainly not in this case. They also seem to go out of their way to create a scenario where they look real, which I guess in some cases is necessary for a true gag, but here, we're not laughing. A final side note, you can use water on them. You don't need urine, so it's possible. Hopefully, that's what Christy did in true Christy form. She also Snapchatted her positive pregnancy test for all to see, but she was sure to cut off the identifying factor of at the right time. When Jared wasn't working or rehabbing their home, he brought Christy to her doctor's appointments at the hospital, even though he wasn't allowed go in.

[Tricia Lafache]

Yeah, I saw her go into the front of the hospital where I had picked her up from the fiasco night. She told me, hey, there's free parking over on this side street here. I parked on the side street. I'm making phone calls and stuff, not thinking anything of it. It was just a normal checkup.

[Jared]

How long was she in there?

[Tricia Lafache]

I'd say it was probably an hour and 15 minutes.

[Jared]

Keep in mind that it's the peak of COVID You're not even supposed to be in the hospital unless you're really sick. And she's pulling off an hour, hour, and 15 minutes.

[Tricia Lafache]

Babies are measuring this. They weigh this. Hey, this one's bigger than the other one. We gotta do this test next. Like, it was methodically thought out to a T. That as me not being a father, I've never been through this. I just take it for what it is.

[Jared]

There was a lot of Jared just taking it for what it is as it relates to what Christy told him about her pregnancy. But it wasn't all the time. In fact, Molly witnessed Jared questioning Christy's position that he was not allowed in the hospital.

[Gretchen]

Jared and I were on the way to Moe's one day, and he had been informed by one of our co workers that he could go into the hospital. And she called him on the phone, and it was on Bluetooth on the car, and she was mother effing him up and down that she knows he's not allowed in the hospital. And why would he say that? I think she said she would do anything for him to be in that room. And she yelled at him for five minutes, screaming. And Jared kept saying, like, it's okay. Like, I just thought I'd ask because someone told me that you were allowed in, and then that was it. But then she went to lunch with us and she was completely fine after she just screamed at him for five to ten minutes.

[Jared]

Sound eerily familiar? That's because it is. Remember when Christy and Jared first found out they were pregnant? Christy flipped out at his initial response, telling Jared she was leaving and never coming back, only to tell him hours later she wanted to go and tell their family and put it on Facebook again. Another outburst, followed by a hard pivot in emotion. But this particular Christie outburst may have had a darker agenda. Nip these questions in the bud, because if he keeps asking questions, it's going to be a problem for Christy. After Christie told Jared that they were having twins, she informed him that her doctor said that one of the twins was definitely a boy. But they were unable to determine the gender of the second baby. It was no secret to everyone who wasn't Jared that Christy was desperate for a baby girl. Christy insisted on having a gender reveal party to announce the gender of their second baby. And even though Jared thinks gender reveals are dumb, he of course obliged his pregnant wife.

[Tricia Lafache]

I mean, I think it's gender reveal just dumb. It's a miracle. It really is. And why does that have to be turned into a party? It should be a happy time in your life.

[Jared]

But Jared had a theory as to why she wanted that party.

[Tricia Lafache]

I think it's just an excuse to put something else on social media.

[Jared]

And Molly had her own theories, I think.

[Gretchen]

I don't know, I have so many opinions.

[Henry]

I think it's.

[Gretchen]

It's just so weird looking back on it now, knowing that it was fake. So, like, was she the one that wrote the gender in the cards? So then she got the boy and the girl like she wanted. But anyway, that's beside the point. When we went, they cut open a cake, there was two layers, and they had already known that it was a boy from. I think they're the blood test or like HCG level, something like that. I don't know for sure. So they already knew they were having a boy. And then the second layer was the second gender. And as soon as she cut into the cake, she was screaming and jumping and whatever else. So, like, we assumed it was a girl because, like, they didn't announce it, but other than that, it was pretty normal. And then they did like those smoke bomb things and like kissed and posted a picture and everything.

[Jared]

Interestingly, Molly was very aware that Christy wanted a boy and a girl and Jared wasn't, you know, that the way that gender reveals work is that you bring an envelope to the cake maker, and allegedly the doctor writes on this piece of paper. The piece of paper, boy or girl. But the person who delivers the envelope to the cake maker doesn't look at the envelope.

[Molly]

Correct.

[Jared]

So that they're also surprised, especially if it's the mother who does that. Obviously, if it's the sister or the friend and they want to cheat, they can. But the whole point of the reveal is that you.

[Tricia Lafache]

Everyone's surprised.

[Jared]

Right. So are we now, in retrospect, thinking that Christy wrote girl on a sheet of paper, put it in an envelope, and handed it to her friend? Had to be, right?

[Tricia Lafache]

You didn't have. You weren't pregnant.

[Jared]

So do you remember how she reacted when you cut the cake and it.

[Tricia Lafache]

Was pink, like, full of joy, ecstatic.

[Jared]

Christy had her gender reveal, and in Jared's defense, it seems pretty unlikely that he would be able to guess that it was Christy who wrote girl on the paper and gave it to her friend. We contacted her friend who made the cake, and she agreed to talk to us. But after multiple attempts to interview her with no response, we are left imagining that scene and how it went down. Aside from the home pregnancy test and the sonograms that Jared actually framed, there was at least one more piece of hard evidence that contributed to Jared's completely believing that Christy was pregnant. She was receiving and he was paying.

[Henry]

For her doctor bills throughout the pregnancy. He's getting things in the, you know, mail. Hey, doctor's visit this day. You had a doctor's visit that day. So she was going and complain, like going to an ob GYN and having complaints of this and complaints of that. And so he was getting the bills in the mail. So he was like, oh, these are all her doctor visits. He's paying these bills in the mail. And in reality, she's just going there. I have, you know, I have these weird cramps this day. I have this that day. So she would always go and see a doctor. She would have a doctor's visit. She would go to the ER and get a bracelet like she was seen there.

[Jared]

Jared is receiving and paying for doctor visits. On one hand, it takes a lot of forethought to attend doctor visits you don't need just so your husband will get a bill and believe you're pregnant. On the other hand, it could be evidence that Christy really believed she was pregnant. And no matter how many times they told her she was not, she kept going back. There was another element to this time in Jared and Christy's marriage. That I have a hard time wrapping my brain around. Jared tells me there were multiple times that Christy accused him of being unfaithful to her during her pregnancy. She would send him Tinder accounts with his name on them, alleging that even though they were married, he was still on Tinder. Why work so hard on building this lie and threatened to blow it all up?

[Tricia Lafache]

What the hell? Why would I do that? I mean, I got married for a reason, took that to do his part. And that, I remember that was I made sure to make that part of my vows. So I was angry, I really was, that I would be accused of this when all I did was go to work, come home, try to make our house nicer, make sure you had everything you wanted. You weren't paying for anything. I went above and beyond to make sure you were happy. You had everything you needed.

[Jared]

Did you ever say to her, these are obviously fakes?

[Tricia Lafache]

Yeah. So I was like, these are fake. I even emailed Tinder. I'm like, hey, these aren't me. Why are they popping up? They ended up telling. I got an email back. They're like, these have been taken off for you. We're sorry that this happened to you.

[Jared]

At the time, Jared didn't suspect Christy was behind the fake Tinder accounts because why would she do that? But thinking about it now, perhaps it wasn't about blowing up her marriage. The Tinder accounts, the allegations of infidelity, could have all been smoke and mirrors. A ruse, a distraction to keep Jared focused on other things, rather than, for example, asking Christy questions about information he was hearing as to who can accompany a pregnant woman into the hospital. This potential ruse isn't the only thing that Christy pulled to make sure Jared was not allowed in the hospital. Remember, her original Due date was November 24, 2020, but she tested positive for Covid at that time. The doctors pushed the birth, but as it turns out, she also was testing positive for Covid after Thanksgiving. In fact, up to and including the date of her birth, in totality, Christy tested positive for Covid for 20 days.

[Tricia Lafache]

I never saw any proof. She tested positive around Thanksgiving, and then she also tested positive in December 12, which shouldn't have been possible, because once you get Covid, there's 14 days that you can test positive and it goes away, or I don't know if it goes away, but you don't test positive anymore, then you aren't able to get Covid for another 90 days.

[Jared]

When Christy tested positive for Covid near Thanksgiving, that was very close to her original due date. But Christy told Jared that the doctors pushed the date of her scheduled C section, which could have potentially screwed up her Covid cover for why Jared couldn't come in. The night Christy had Jared drop her off. She told him she had to go in and test for Covid, and if she was still testing positive, he couldn't come in from inside the hospital. She told him she was still positive 20 days after her initial positive test. Do you think she had Covid?

[Tricia Lafache]

No, I truly don't think she had Covid. I think it was to keep me out of a hospital.

[Jared]

This is what Jared says in hindsight, but in the moment, he didn't question it the same way he didn't question a lot of things. We know that Jared mostly took what Christy said at face value, and if he questioned it, he got berated and let it go. But should Jared have asked more questions? Should he have figured out that his wife was never pregnant?

[Henry]

Any man, if I would say, you can't come to this appointment because of X, Y, and Z, they would be like, oh, okay.

[Jared]

Gretchen, for one, clearly does not think so. She doesn't think there's a chance in the world that Jared could have figured out his wife wasn't pregnant.

[Henry]

Being in the medical world, we have dads that are in their 40s, and we say something, and they turn and look at mom, and Mom's like, okay. And they're like, okay. Cause they have no clue. They have no clue, you know, what a pregnancy looks like, what you have to do for a pregnancy. I mean, I'm not saying every man doesn't, but majority of young guys especially, they have no clue. And then you have it during COVID where, like, you can't go to a doctor's appointment. It's all over, you know, the news, like, oh, parents are giving birth by themselves because, you know, so and so is not allowed in. And, like, all these different things. Like, how would he know?

[Jared]

Gretchen also saw Christy herself and just believes there would be no way to know.

[Henry]

I had seen her in person, in. You'd be like, oh, yeah, she's pregnant. She's pregnant. She looks good for having twins, but she's pregnant. She's definitely got two babies in there. You would never have known. I mean, as a medical professional, there's times I can look at an ultrasound, and I'm like, what am I looking at? You know? So as a male that has no.

[Jared]

Medical background, during her career as a nurse, Gretchen has treated people with various psychosomatic conditions.

[Henry]

We have plenty of people that Come in and they're absolutely convinced that they have X, Y and Z wrong with them. And they are in the ER every other day with it. And it's to the point, like, they have themselves so convinced that they're showing signs and symptoms.

[Jared]

This is Gretchen sharing things she's heard vocalized in the er. When a woman is experiencing pseudocyesis, they.

[Henry]

Tell them a lot, like, it's not there. And those people are so convinced that it's there, they're like, you're missing it. Scan me again. You're missing it. Take more blood. I know I'm pregnant. Take more blood. I have this pregnancy test and there's a faint line on it. And I'm telling you I'm pregnant. And how, how would my period stop if I'm not pregnant? You have no heartbeat. You have no baby on the ultrasound. You have nothing. And then at that point, it is a full blown psych disorder. There is something that is not right in her. Like there's a chemical imbalance there that is making her 100% believe or have an ulterior motive of why she was doing that.

[Unknown]

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[Sloan Glass]

Hi, listeners. I'm Sloan Glass, the host of American Homicide, a podcast where we take you across the country to investigate some of America's deadliest crimes. We'll explore how these murders are shaped by their unique landscapes and in turn, how These tragedies have shaped the fabric of these American communities forever. And you can get access to all episodes of American Homicide 100% ad free and one week early through the iHeart True Crime plus subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So don't wait. Head to Apple podcasts, search for iHeart True Crime plus and subscribe today.

[Jared]

We've spoken extensively to Jared's friends and family about Christy, to a psychiatrist and a survivor of phantom pregnancy to help us understand the whys of it all. But what about Christy's side? We wanted to know more about Christy's relationship with her own family. Was there something there that had a part to play in all this? How would you describe Christy's relationship with her mom, Sheila?

[Tricia Lafache]

Terrible. They never saw eye to eye.

[Gretchen]

She had said that she, like, went through some stuff with, as in, like, with her mom. I don't want to say she had a bad home life when she was younger, but that's what I got.

[Henry]

She, I. She kept saying throughout, you know, our relationship with her that her and her mom had this, like, falling out. Her mom, like, just up and left randomly and then, like, came back for her wedding and, you know, wore this, like, black dress. You were all mad about it.

[Jared]

Other people, like Henry, for example, had stronger opinions on Christie's mom, Sheila, for better or worse. In Henry's case, worse.

[Molly]

Her old man, they got back together and they tried to work things out, and then she went batshit crazy and run off the reservation and shot and killed all their farm animals, tried to burn her house down. And oh, yeah, she certified. The mother is like, slaughtered them in front of the kids. Yeah, it was. It was pretty crazy.

[Jared]

So that's Henry's opinion. But for Jared's part, he didn't feel like he knew Christie's mother, Sheila, very well, but he did know and love her grandmother. In fact, his grandmother and Christie's grandmother were pretty close friends.

[Tricia Lafache]

It's kind of a funny story. Like, we live so close together. Our grandmothers actually grew up together and are friends. Well, after this had all come out, and my grandmother holds a grudge. You do wrong, it's the end of the world. They used to be pretty close and would go and get lunches and stuff. They don't do that anymore.

[Jared]

Jared talks about the effects this whole event had on his younger siblings.

[Tricia Lafache]

This whole thing actually had a pretty big toll on my brothers and sisters. I'm the oldest, so they all kind of look up to me, or at least I feel they do. Maybe they don't. Maybe they're making fun of me at home right now, who knows? But my sisters had kind of gotten real close to Christy, and they had. They had a true friendship that I saw. And like, my youngest sister, she was very close to Christy and always was texting and Snapchatting and stuff like that. Like, she doesn't even do that with me. Even my brother would send her pictures and stuff like that fish he was catching or anything like that. Like stuff you send your buddies. And I didn't see that happening. I mean, it was. It was so quick. But the relationship between them was so true to my siblings. I can't speak for what Christy felt about it, but they were truly heartbroken when they found out all of this.

[Jared]

At the time, Jared's siblings were all in their teens, and I could feel that Jared felt responsible for placing him in that level of pain.

[Tricia Lafache]

You can do wrong to me, fine. But when you involve my family and you hurt them, that really pushes it to another level.

[Jared]

I guess that's how your grandmother felt.

[Tricia Lafache]

Maybe that's where I get it from.

[Jared]

Jared had spent so much time being excited, anticipating the arrival of his twins, then in the blink of an eye, internalizing the heartbreaking aftermath of their death, only to find out it was all a lie.

[Tricia Lafache]

I mean, it's hard to say. There's no words for how I was feeling. It was mixed emotions. I was sad, I was very angry. I felt deceived, but I felt relief. I felt so much relief that two children didn't pass on. I mean, even if they weren't mine, you hate to hear about it. Children are kind of sacred. I mean, you help them grow and flourish into these people that we walk around with. And to see them be taken, it kind of drains me of how I feel. But just seeing that there were no babies, it really. The relief set in. I felt 10 times better.

[Jared]

And while he was still processing all of this, he had to figure out what to do next.

[Tricia Lafache]

So I actually called one of my state troopers buddies, figure out what I should do. It was a Saturday night. It was 7, 7:30. There were no lawyers open. It's Saturday. I didn't have a family lawyer. So I'm trying to figure out what do I do, and I decide I gotta go back to the rental house and act like everything was okay.

[Jared]

Jared decides he is not going to tell Christy he spoke with the hospital and that he knows the truth.

[Tricia Lafache]

I knew I had to keep it a secret because she still had access to all the money.

[Jared]

What money?

[Tricia Lafache]

All the money from the donations and the stuff that was donated because her house had just burned down a few days prior.

[Jared]

Next time on the Unborn.

[Tricia Lafache]

Christie My wife ended up waking me up. I remember seeing smoke hovering above the.

[Molly]

Bed and then all the shit hit the fan and all the wheels fell off and everybody wanted their money back and it turned into a little bit.

[Tricia Lafache]

Of a shit show.

[Henry]

But I think once it got to, you know, an escalated point, she freaked out. Fight or flight type thing.

[Tricia Lafache]

Her plan wasn't thought out. She didn't think it would go this far and she needed some time to or an excuse to move the due date. At this point, I open my safe, I count all my firearms, and I realize one's missing.

[Jared]

That's next time on the Unborn. The Unborn is a production of iHeart podcasts, audio up and Jesuit Press Productions.

[Karl]

Created by Tricia lafach and Frank Rodriguez.

[Jared]

Mahl produced by Alvin Cohen and Rachel Foley Executive producer produced by Jimmy Jelinek, David Thwaites and Jared Gustav Edited by Gerard Bauer and Preston Dawson Sound design and mixing by Jeremiah Zimmerman.

[Sloan Glass]

Hi listeners. I'm Sloan Glass, the host of American Homicide, a podcast where we take you across the country to investigate some of America's deadliest crimes. We'll explore how these murders are shaped by their unique landscapes and in turn, how these tragedies have shaped the fabric of these American communities forever. And you can get access to all episodes of American Homicide 100% ad free and one week early through the iHeart True Crime plus subscription available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for IHEART True Crime and subscribe today.