PORTLAND, Ore.-- A Portland family suffered the heartbreak of losing a son in combat. Now they fear his photo is being used to solicit money.
"This is really a low scam," said Dr. Brian Fennerty, the father of an Army sergeant who died in Iraq.
The advertisements appeared on Craigslist in Florida and another fund-raising website, indiegogo.com in May. In the ads, a woman claims her twin brother was injured in Afghanistan after stepping on a roadside bomb. She claims the hospitalized veteran needs money for travel and medical bills.
Included in the ad is a photo of the purported soldier named Sgt. Chris Fennerty. A newspaper reporter went looking for Sgt. Fennery.
"There was no one by that name that had been in Iraq or Afghanistan in the last few years," said reporter Rob Johnson of the Pensacola News Journal.
After publishing details about the bogus ads, the newspaper found the photo is actually of an Army sergeant from Oregon with a similar name. Sgt. Sean Fennerty died in Iraq in 2007. Fennerty's family figures someone lifted the fallen soldier's photo and is now using it to solicit funds. It is not clear who is behind the ads.
"We want him remembered for what he did. Not this nonsense," said the fallen soldier's father.
Courtesy KGW.com
