Abandoned Utah Boy Is Hoaks’ Hoax
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SALT LAKE CITY — The 13-year-old boy who told authorities he was abandoned before his Christmas birthday is actually a 25-year-old California woman who has attempted similar scams in at least nine other states, police said.
State officials discovered the woman’s true identity Wednesday morning after authorities in Vermont contacted Utah officials about the case.
The woman in both instances was identified as Birdie Jo Hoaks of San Jose. She called Utah social services officials Dec. 20 and told them she had been left at a bus stop by her stepmother and father.
She said her name was Michael Ross and that she would celebrate her 13th birthday on Christmas.
It was a story that touched hearts across the country. By Christmas evening, state officials had received dozens of calls and many contributions from people horrified that a boy so young could be abandoned by his parents less than two weeks before his holiday birthday.
Hoaks, who admitted the scam when confronted, was being held without bail on felony and misdemeanor counts.
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