S20 E7: The Confession
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Here's Lauren.

And then I sent the text. I sent it to every person that I ever knew through Jess. I sent it to Danny, Bree's roommate, Megan, my mom, because she wanted to read it. I sent it to Bree through Instagram. I didn't even have her number. Okay, here it is. Just wanted to let you know I'm pressing charges on Jess.

She's been catfishing me for three years using this guy's photos, emotionally abusing me, manipulating me and using him to control my every move. She tried to get me to fly across the country to see him, tried to get me to send naked photos and would threaten to kill himself if I was out with other guys or girls. I found the real guy and he said Jess has done this before and I talked to the girl who used to be Jess's friend that she did it to.

Here's Brie.

So, as Jess was sitting at our kitchen table and she saw that Lauren was at the police station, I'm nervous after she brought up the police station and then Lauren sends this text to her. She wouldn't let me read it. She basically skimmed it and just said, she's losing her mind, she's moving out, and she's getting a restraining order on me. My stomach had fallen. I hadn't received a message from Lauren at this point.

My roommate, myself, and Jess all got in the car. We were going to pick up her child. I knew something was wrong. I didn't know what was wrong, but I knew something was wrong, and I knew Jess wasn't telling me the whole truth. Lauren didn't have my number, and that's why I think it just took later. I believe I was one of the last people to receive it. My roommate, she was sitting in the back seat, and her phone went off, and she goes...

I just got a message from Lauren and you could tell that Jess's head was racing and immediately she was just trying to shut it down by saying she is just trying to get to everyone that's close to me. She wants to ruin my life. She wants to make all my friends hate me. Talk to me before you open that. It's really exaggerated. She was just trying to make it seem like Lauren was blowing some joke that happened a very long time ago out of proportion to

to make Jess's life hell. And she really wanted my roommate to just block Lauren. So she couldn't talk to her and hear what she had to say. And my roommate refused. She said, I'm not going to block her. I have no reason to block her. I'm not going to do that. Jess did the manipulative card saying, if you were my friend, you would just block her and not listen to her. I didn't hear it at this point. She read it in the backseat of the car.

And we got to the school. And mind you, my stomach is turning. I was not feeling great.

We got out of the car and Jess was just trying to keep me super close to her. But my roommate had pulled me back and said that the message that Lauren had sent her was messed up and that I needed to read it. And I said, can you just kind of give me a quick rundown before I can actually sit down and read it? She said it sounded like Jess had catfished Lauren and Lauren found out it was her and is basically telling everybody and she's going to be pressing charges.

I was out of sorts. My world was spinning upside down because it wasn't really me thinking, oh my God, Jess is Brody at this moment. It was me thinking my best friend was not the person I thought they were. And I knew something was up, kind of like Lauren had said earlier.

She knew she was involved. She didn't know to what extent and she was hoping it wasn't to the extent that it was. She didn't want it to be as bad as it was, but come to find out, it actually was. So this night, I still didn't know the full truth.

And we had gone to dinner with another friend of ours in the group. We had gone out to get pizza. I went in to pick up the pizza. Jess had gone into the parking lot with my roommate at this point and answered the phone. And that's when the real Brody called her and was saying, I told you not to do this again. This happened three years ago. And I'm

this is cliff notes i didn't hear the entire conversation but basically from what i was told he said i told you not to do this again and he's was just saying i'm gonna ruin your life because she didn't stop when she said she would

Per my roommate, she was just very stoic during the whole conversation. There wasn't a lot of remorse. She may have thrown in an I'm sorry. It wasn't anything emotional by any means. But you could tell she was starting to panic. And at this point, I just wanted to know what was going on. And I wanted to talk to my roommate, not with Jess.

After dinner, we had gone back to my place and just brought her kid there. And I didn't want her to stay over. I didn't know what had happened, but like she would stay over and we'd have sleepovers pretty often. We'd watch movies and then go do our own thing. But I had made it clear that I did not want to have a sleepover that night. And that wasn't really usual for me to say no to her like that. She and her child went home.

She had access to the camera that she had given me. Jess had given my roommate and I a dog camera for the common space because we had just moved in. I had two cats. She had a dog. And we weren't sure how they were going to live together. I didn't realize that she still had access to it. So she could still listen to all of our conversations.

Looking back, it makes everything make sense now. My roommate had told me that they were at work, but her child had been at our place. It was just like an afternoon after school. And she was talking to him through the camera. And my roommate had told me that she was doing that while he was at our place. And I looked at her and I said, what? And she said, yeah, no, she was. I said, I didn't know that she still had access to that camera.

But that was after we had pieced everything together. That's how we knew that obviously she'd been listening to our conversations. And that's why she had been so clingy. She didn't want me and my roommate to talk and figure things out because my roommate was looking into it more than she wanted and things were going to come to light.

It was all in this week. All of these pivotal things happened. Brody was still texting me at this time and wanted to watch a movie because occasionally that would happen. We'd both have a night off and we'd have a Hulu party. You can do that and sing Hulus and whatnot. But we were all talking and Brody wanted to watch a movie and gave me attitude since I didn't write then and there. Basically just trying to get me in my room, not talking to my roommates.

My car had been hit the day I moved here, so I was dependent on my friends and Uber to get it anywhere. And Jess was always like, oh, of course I'll give you a ride. She liked when I had to depend on her. She had the day off. I had to get a couple of things done, and that was always the plan. But after everything had unfolded the previous evening,

Of course, I was uneasy. I wasn't excited. I knew I needed to have a chat with her and I wasn't really sure on how to do that. So I asked her, can you come up before we go? I just want to talk to you. And at this point, I had been still talking to Brody saying that I needed to talk to Jess about things. So this was not a surprise to her because I had been confiding in him that something was really messed up and I had to talk to her.

She came upstairs and we sat down on my couch. I didn't even lead into the conversation with anything. We just sat on the couch and I looked at her and I said, if there's anything you're not telling me about Brody, Brad, Matt, Will, this entire situation, you need to tell me now or it's going to be really bad. She just looked at me and shook her head and

didn't say anything. She just shook her head and got really quiet.

And that was that. I don't know if I was still in disbelief that this could maybe be what's going on. I wasn't entirely certain. I just knew something was not right. And her looking me in the face, shaking her head no, that she had nothing to do with it. After receiving the messages from Lauren saying she was going to press charges. After talking to the real Brody, the

and still lying to me, I think it was just very telling. I had no reason to not believe her yet. I had never been betrayed by Jess. I really want people to keep in mind, like, this was my best friend. I had no reason to not trust her. I knew that her and Lauren had fought, and at this point, Lauren and I hadn't talked, and I took everything that was said with a grain of salt. There's two sides to every story.

I was just thinking, you know, Lauren was sick of the shit, moving out and did what she had to do to get out. And this conversation was before I officially found out, of course. But I had an inkling that something was wrong, like Jess was involved somehow. I just didn't know how. And then for her to like look me in the face and tell me that she was not lying to me about anything...

After all that was said to her, after the threats, after Lauren pressing charges, and she still tried to run with it. It's telling.

My roommate wanted to meet up with Danny and know what Lauren said to Danny because she knew that Jess was not telling either of us the truth. And so she wanted to find out from somebody else. She knew that my roommate was not going to let this go and was going to figure out what was actually going on and was not going to sit there and take Jess's word for it because of how sketchy she was being. So it was either the following day or two days later that

When my roommate had finally talked to Danny and said, I need you to tell me what's going on here. I don't feel like I'm being told the truth. Here's Danny.

So I text Lauren and I'm like, oh my God, what can I do to help you? Can I help you move? Do you have a place to stay? Are you okay? Lauren's parents live here in North Carolina. Thank effing God. She had help and a support system. That's what I was mainly concerned about. And she got back to me, but she was, in the beginning, at least, she was very vague. We always

We all connected later on and started telling our perspectives of this whole scenario to each other. Lauren said she was sitting next to her mom while she was texting me because I was the only one that responded because the other girls were with Jess. Lauren's still sketched out by all of Jess's friends. She's probably sketched out by me. What if I knew? She had no idea. So she was very vague at first when she would respond. Here's Lauren.

Danny was a tricky one because me and her weren't super close. And my mom was kind of warning me to be careful who I shared information with. Because of all this craziness. We knew how manipulative Jess was. At first, it seemed like Danny was like, okay, well, I'm friends with her, but I'll listen to your side. But then

But that quickly changed. She said, firstly, I'm so sorry. Wow. Secondly, do you need anything? Thirdly, are you moving out? Do you need anywhere to go? So she was very supportive on that front. So was Caden. Caden texted me. It was really, really sweet hearing from them because I felt like I was alone in all of this. I said, she's not a good person and everyone around me could see that, but I genuinely trusted her. I'm

I'm okay. I just moved most of my stuff out today and going back for the rest tomorrow. I'm staying somewhere temporarily until I figure out my next move, but I got a restraining order against her. And she said, okay, I'm so sorry. If you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask. Me and Caden are here. That is so crazy. Holy fuck. I said, it's so bad. I just want everyone in her life to be careful and I'm so worried about her son.

I said, three years of my life wasted on someone that never existed. Danny said, I can't even imagine how you're feeling. I won't bring it up to her unless she does. What do you think is her motive? I said, I think she likes girls, but she's also incredibly insecure and loves to have control over everything. So she weasels her way into your life as herself so she can watch it all unfold like it's some sick game. Danny said, that's so crazy. How did you find out? I sent her a screenshot at screen recordings, just everything. She's asking questions. She

She said, this sounds like some Dateline shit. I said, remember the guy that I was going to go on the boat with in Southport? She said, the one we are going to meet up with? I said, yeah, he was never real. She said, were all these guys Jess? I said, yeah, she created the whole family and would text me through a texting app. The cousin that passed away never existed. The brother, sister, other cousin. She even said his dog had three months to live. She said she's not denying it, but she told me she wasn't going to text about it. And she knows the truth. That's insane.

I told her I was willing to listen because I mean, I am her friend, but she didn't even defend herself. I said, she can't. I have all the proof and I will see her in court next week. She said, has she tried to reach out at all? I said, I blocked that bitch. Danny said that Jess just texted her asking if I texted her. I said, she's going to know I did. I'm reaching out to everybody. Within 10 minutes, Jess started blowing up my phone. She started texting me, is Lauren texting you?

I don't say anything. She says, can you please just tell me what she's saying? I don't say anything. And I let a couple hours go by. I don't reply. And I talked to my boyfriend about it. And I'm like, what should I do in this scenario? Should I give her a chance to talk? Should I hear her out? What should I do? Because I genuinely don't know. I didn't have all the information at the time. She was my friend. So I responded to her finally after like a couple hours. And I said...

I'm willing to hear you out if you tell me the truth. That's all I want. She said something along the lines of, I'm not comfortable with texting it, but I'm happy to meet up in person and talk to you. And that's when I knew she was guilty. So I was like, okay. She wanted to have coffee or something in like the coming days, two or three days. That never happened because we found out a lot more information later.

Lauren, it feels like she trusts me a little bit more. She's sending me screenshots of the text messages. Like, I have all the proof. She sent me all the pictures, the amount of abuse she sent me. It was just a lot of name-calling, bullying.

Some of them, Jess would be talking to her catfishes. So there'd be text threads of Jess and Brody back and forth together talking. And then she would screenshot them and send them to Lauren and seem like a good friend for trying to talk to her boyfriend for her. I'm like, you have to be batshit off your rocker. She just knew that some of the girls were in a place of a really bad depressive state. And she continued.

We were really scared that maybe we would find out someone did unalive themselves because of her. The way these girls talked, it was like they were in such a low pit. Just took so much away from them, their whole identity, isolated them.

even lived with them and isolated them in that aspect. It was insane. The thing with the suicide, the craziest part for me of that was is that we work in healthcare and Jess would text these girls as a fake doctor

She basically used her own medical knowledge as manipulation to these girls to make it seem like he was on a ventilator in a hospital. She said in the text messages that he was an organ donor and he was going to be brain dead. But using terms that we would typically know as respiratory therapists and be able to convey to family members, it's wild.

Bree's roommate texted me and said, hey, I want to talk to you. Can I call you? She calls me and we talk and she's like, I feel like I'm being lied to. And I'm like, well, I'm not sure what she's told you, but probably not all of the truth. And I tell her everything that Lauren had told me from start to finish. And she was like, I'm definitely being lied to. She downplayed the whole situation and said that this was a surface level prank.

She was like, I'm pulling up to my house now. Can you repeat everything you just said when I get around Bree? And I was like, yeah, of course. Here's Bree again. Dani had filled in my roommate. My roommate came home and she goes, I need to talk to you. And I could just tell it was not going to be good.

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Stop wasting money on things you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to rocketmoney.com slash wondery. That's rocketmoney.com slash wondery. rocketmoney.com slash wondery. I'm Dan Taberski. In 2011, something strange began to happen at the high school in Leroy, New York. I was like at my locker and she came up to me and she was like stuttering super bad. I'm like, stop f***ing around. She's like...

I can't. A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms, and spreading fast. It's like doubling and tripling, and it's all these girls. With a diagnosis the state tried to keep on the down low. Everybody thought I was holding something back. Well, you were holding something back intentionally. Yeah, yeah, well, yeah.

Is this the largest mass hysteria since The Witches of Salem? Or is it something else entirely? A new limited series from Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios, Hysterical.

Follow Hysterical on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Hysterical early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Tears had welled in my eyes. I knew this was not going to be good. She had told me that she had talked to Danny and gave the details. My roommate, she didn't know a ton about my relationship, but she'd known a little bit. And she said the name she used was Brody. And I'm just like...

staring at her and she said he had a brother and basically described the same relationship that I was in

And at first, none of us were like, oh, she's catfishing Brie too. At first, it was more like maybe she used your life as some weird plot to do this to Lauren because it was so crazy. But that only lasted for about three minutes in my head. And then they had hung up the phone and Danny had talked to Lauren and

She said, "Question, do you know that Bri's boyfriend's name is Brody and his brother's name is Brad?" I didn't know Bri even had a boyfriend or anything like that. I said, "Um," she said, "Dude, lol." I said, "Hold on, I'll call you back. I'm eating." She said, "I was just on the phone with Bri and I told her how you told me Brody was a doctor." I said, "Has she met him?" She said, "Yes, they're real people. Brad and Brody are real."

I said, "How long has she been dating them?" She said, "I think about three years. I'm asking now." I said, "Are you sure she's met them? That sounds sketchy AF." She said, "I think so. That was my first thought too when you told me all this was happening that it might be happening to Bree, but I'm pretty sure they used to work together, but that's what Jess told me." I said, "Don't believe a word she says."

Lauren was like, Jess is a liar. Call her back right now. So I called Brie back. She didn't pick up. I'm like blowing their phones up. Like, please answer the fucking phone. Finally, Brie's roommate picks up and she's like, what's up? And I'm like, has Brie ever met Brody in real life? And it was like a deadpan silence. And then I just hear her scream, cry. And

It was horrible. It was just crazy. The switch that flipped in real life, it felt like a movie. The whole room felt like it spun upside down. I never experienced anything like that. It was so crazy.

The Lauren story. It was so nuts. And we truly believed that she was the only one. And I never could fathom it getting worse or crazier or weirder because it was already so bizarre. And then I'm on the phone and we connect the dots and it's 10 steps way worse. Here's Bree. Dani called her back and she looked at me. I'm standing in my doorway. She's in the kitchen and she goes, wait, have you and Brody met?

And that's when I broke down. I honestly don't remember what words exactly were said. It was life changing. I had screamed because it hit me that as bad as this was, it wasn't a real man being this awful person to me. It was someone I thought was my best friend, emotionally manipulating, torturing, terrorizing me. All of this awfulness was literally just a game.

My head was spinning. They were both like, oh my God, I'm so sorry. Like no one really knew what to say or do in this situation. But basically we got me and Lauren on the phone right away and we compared stories, names, people, incidents, all the things and everything aligned. Everything.

What I had gone through, Lauren had gone through too. We're like, there's no way, there's no way this is actually happening. But as we both cross-checked all the phone numbers, she told me how she found the real Brody and the real pictures. I didn't have any question. There was no need to convince me that it wasn't, like, I knew it was Jess. And she was the only tie.

I knew my life was about to flip and it wasn't going to be good either way for a little while because I lost my best friend. The only good thing was being free of this psychopath. Finally, there was no ifs, ands or buts. Like it was done and there was no question about it. I just remember calling my mom minutes after I got off the phone with Lauren and I told her she was right. Earlier that day, we had talked on the phone and

And this is the very first time anyone in my life had ever suggested it could be Jess. And I remember saying, there's no way.

She questioned whether it was real, as did Emily. But me saying that I had met him once, that was always in the back of everyone's head. But never once did anyone in my life ask if it was Jess. They all questioned if it was real, of course, but nobody ever thought it could be her.

I remember calling my mom and I had feelings all over the board. I wasn't sure what was right, what was real, what was going on. I mean, I was just crying. I couldn't believe it. She was never like...

I told you so. She never made me feel stupid. She never made me feel bad for telling her that I had met him. We talked about how I had enough hate for myself at that point that she didn't needed to add to that. She knew I was being as hard as I could be on myself. But she said, all we can do is move forward. And first and foremost, she wanted me to get to the police station to get a restraining order as well.

Here's Bree's mom. When I found out it was Jess, immediately I'm like, there's no blame that's going to happen here. This is not the space for that. We're going to move forward and we're going to fix this. I wasn't going into, how could you see somebody for four years? That's not what it was about.

I mean, I'm old, but I'm not stupid. I know what happens online with younger people, whatever. It is what it is. It's not my place to judge. That's not my job here. It was like, okay, what are our next steps? What do we have to do next?

I did have a last conversation with both Brody and Jess. She tried to be Brody till the very end. I said, you lied. You're a monster. Brody was like, I don't know what you're talking about. Who's Danny? Trying to just play this off. And then I figured it out. And the last thing I said to Brody was, this is all fucking fake. What in the actual fuck?

That's when I texted Jess. And it sounds so stupid, like saying it now. I don't know why I didn't just text her right off the bat. But I was probably still just in like this shock mode.

The last text thread between Jess and I was Tuesday, August 29th at 6.16pm. I said, you have a lot of explaining to do. Jessica, what in the actual fuck are you him? Tell me the fucking truth. She said, I will call you. I said, tell me the fucking truth. She said,

You already know what I did because I've told you all we've talked about for a week straight. And I said, you lied. She said, what did I lie about? I said, you're a monster. She said, call me. Can you call me or can we talk in person? I said, what in the actual fuck is wrong with you? She said, Brie, I don't know. Can we talk about it? I don't know what I can do for any of it.

And I said, I don't want to speak ever again. And I blocked her.

So I went to the police station. I just needed to talk to either a detective, a police officer. I needed to explain what was going on. I couldn't get a restraining order. I had to go to the court during like a certain time frame is what I was told. So I didn't go till the next morning. But that night I was trying to get my story in writing so it was documented as soon as I could. And it

It felt like it was just getting handed off to, oh, you need to talk to someone in this district or you need to talk to somebody in this section of the office or you need to talk to someone here. I was retelling it over and over and I felt insane. I don't feel like anyone really took it really serious. I had gone to the courthouse that next day and I filled everything out to get a restraining order. And initially it was not granted.

There was one for more of like a domestic violence and there was one for basic generic restraining order. And they had given me the wrong one to fill out. So it was automatically dismissed. You could tell they really didn't even read it. It didn't take long. I was so confused. Then I went back and I believe this was even a couple of days later with like work schedules and everything because it was not close. So then I went and I just remember it took forever.

a long time. They were reviewing everything. It was submitted and I got it filed. So the second time I attempted, I got the right papers filled out. It was granted. However, it took a very long time to serve Jess with the papers. I had gotten my restraining order granted September 1st, but I believe it was eight days it took to serve her with the papers. I know it was longer than a week to serve Jess

my restraining order and then the misdemeanor cyber stalking charges as well. Here's Monica.

My boyfriend and I had went to Omaha for a weekend about two weeks before discovery. And it was so weird. We went to the mall that I went to when I was waiting for Brody for hours. I had spent like four hours there that day, just wasting time waiting for him to wake up. We went to that same mall. I told my boyfriend that we had to go to this pizza place that was so good that Jess is

slash Brody. They actually both talked about it. Lighthouse Pizza in Omaha. And I was like, we have to go here and get pizza. It's so good. So we went there for lunch and we were sitting there eating pizza. And I looked at my boyfriend and I was like, I just wish we'd run into him. I don't miss him. It doesn't mean anything, but like, I just wish he would walk by or something. And my boyfriend was kind of like, well, why? Why does it matter? And I was like, because at least then I would know he's real.

over three years after I had been done with Brody. But it was still in my brain, not that I would have gone back to him. I'm very, very, very happy in my relationship now.

I went through all that time and all that stress and everything I went through with Brody for over a year and still not even having 100% proof that he was a real person. So my boyfriend was like, well, why does it matter? And I told him, I was like, well, because if he's not real, then Jess has been lying to me because she's the only person I know that knows Brody. There's also so many times...

She would tell me that she would go hang out with Matt and Brody and I would get so upset because I'm like, you know how hard I've been trying to meet Brody and hang out with Brody. Why would you just go there and hang out with them and not let me know or not bring me? It would always just drive me insane.

In the months leading up to discovery, we definitely weren't as close as we used to be, but still would randomly Snapchat, randomly text, randomly FaceTime. She wanted me to come to North Carolina and visit and do a photo shoot. And she even wanted me to bring my boyfriend, which looking back now is weird. And I wonder what would have happened. Of course, there would have been some sort of drama. But I would say our friendship was okay.

So on August 30th, I got a message from Bree. And this was a Wednesday morning. I had just gotten to work. It was right before 8am. And a message from Bree pops up. I was a little confused because Bree and I had never really talked, being that Jess had separated us so much. But...

She messaged me saying, I'm reaching out because I'm sure Jess hasn't told you or not the whole truth if she did. She has been catfishing both Lauren and I for three plus years. She's pretended to be a man, asked for nudes, sent someone else's pictures, manipulated, gaslighted and ruined my life with her sick, twisted game.

Every time I tried to leave the situation, the man she was portraying threatened to kill himself. This is just a small fragment of what's been going on for a very long time. She's lied to everyone. I've been in therapy for it. Lauren is pressing charges and got a restraining order, and I will be doing the same.

I replied to her immediately. My first message just said, oh my gosh. And then I said, she did the same thing to me also, dot, dot, dot. And she replied saying, when in all caps. And I said, I've been questioning this for years. That's how I first met her. And then Bree said, can you call me? I said, I thought I was talking to Brody for months.

almost two years. And then she called and we talked about the entire thing. And I was pacing the sidewalk outside my work before we opened our stories. Literally, we could finish each other's sentences. They were so identical and so similar in every way. So we were like, holy shit.

I hung up with her and went inside and looked at all my coworkers. We're all really close. They're all like second parents to me, honestly. And they had known about the whole Brody situation from years past when I was trying to meet him and when I was talking to him and what he did. And they knew everything. They had seen pictures of him.

I sat down at the desk and they were like, what's up? Because I mean, they said I had no color in my face, like something's wrong. What's going on? And I looked at them and then I just lost it. I said, I just found out who the real Brody is. And it was Jess.

They all knew about Jess also because she was a good friend of mine. They knew about her and knew that we hung out all the time. I sat there a little bit and they were all in complete shock. Then I ran to the bathroom and threw up. I felt like I had no control over my body. Luckily, I hopped on my phone and I don't know, it was obviously a God thing that someone had canceled their therapy appointment at noon that day. So I booked it before I went to therapy. I talked to Jess.

She struck him with her motor vehicle. She had been under the influence, and then she left him there. In January 2022, local woman Karen Reed was implicated in the mysterious death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe. It was alleged that after an innocent night out for drinks with friends, Karen and John got into a lover's quarrel en route to the next location. What happens next depends on who you ask.

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So I got that phone call and talked to Bree around 8 a.m. that day. And then I talked to Lauren also, and we'd been texting, and she also called me. And I was at work, but I had pretty much been on the phone all day talking to these two about what we had discovered. Then at 10, 12 a.m., I get a text from Jess saying, I do need to talk to you about something when you have time, period.

I, of course, am freaking out texting Bree and Lauren like, oh my gosh, she just texted me. Obviously, she did not know that Bree had already reached out to me and we've already connected the dots with the situation. I'm just like, what do I say? Do I act like I don't know? Do I confront her about it? What should I do? So I just replied, what's up? Question mark. Okay.

That's just hilarious now because I know how I was feeling at the time where I was like shitting my pants. I was trying to get her to like type it out. So I had it in writing, but she replied, can you call me today sometime? Question mark. So I am on the phone with Lauren and I'm freaking out. I'm like, dude, I cannot talk to her on the phone. I'm like, dude, I cannot talk to her on the phone.

I will lose it. I'm not strong enough for this. She was like, I'll be on the phone with you. I'm just going to mute myself. She was helping me by sending me what to ask because my brain simply was so in shock at the time that I could not have a conversation with anyone, let alone the person who had put me in this state. So I called her and I pretended like I had no idea what she was calling me about. It was so scary.

Here's Lauren. I told Monica that we could call her and I could be on mute and record the call. Now it is. Yeah, I'm nervous. Yeah, maybe you should just act like you don't know and see what she says. Just be like, you're at work.

Alright, I'm calling her. Okay, I'm meeting. I hate that it happened, but I just wanted to be honest with you and talk to you about it because I care about you so much, but obviously we didn't keep talking or anything like that. I just needed to be honest with you about that. But what happened? Brody. Yeah, I wanted to be honest with you and tell you he wasn't real.

So it was you? Yeah. And I, like, made that profile or that, like, whatever you call it, the Hinge account, like, to make friends. I don't know why, like, I mean, I, like, did that to make friends. I have no idea. I mean, I had a long talk with, like, my aunt and stuff last night. And, like, I just, I need to call Monica and talk to Monica about it. Yeah. And it's just, it's really hard for me because I just, I don't,

I don't know. I just, like, I love you to death. And, I mean, I have, you know, we have, like, such a good friendship. And I just, I didn't want, like, any secrets from any of it. And I wanted to be able to talk to you and, like, tell you, like, what happened and what it was. Because, you know, it was one of those things that's hard, like, when you're doing that, like...

to just stop because you're like maybe like a little attachment is going with it and it's like it's never supposed to be that and I just got caught up with it and I needed to be honest with you. I appreciate that but I mean I mean I went through a lot with Brody and you know that and I was hurt and really fucked up by that situation and it's so

I know. And I think that's, like, the hardest part is, like, it didn't need to become that. And it did. Like, I used to, like, when I would, like, be with you or I would, like, see how hurt you were by it and stuff, like, I didn't want to keep doing that. You know, like, I didn't think that, like, anything could ever come from that. You know what I mean? Like, without, like, meeting or anything. Yeah. I don't know if that makes sense. Like, I guess I never expected, like...

emotions to like get involved with it. I just wanted it to like fade away, which I mean, it did, you know, obviously we like quit talking, but like it didn't matter. Like when we had talked a lot, you know, I mean, I sent bright pictures, like I, like everything. Yeah. But like, I just want you to know, like, I don't have any of that stuff. And I think that like when I was talking to Alicia about it, like in the moment you try to like make it as real as you can, like,

And I think that that's what's really hard. It was never to get pictures like that or anything like that. You go with it, and when it happened, I didn't know how to just stop it. I mean, I don't know. There's no excuse for any of it. I just really needed to be honest with you, and I wanted you to be able to talk to me about it. I know it's really hard because I can ruin a trust between us. I just want to be able to give you whatever you need from me.

Because I don't, like, I know it's hard to say, like, I don't want to lose you, but, like, I don't want to lose you, but I wanted to be honest with you. Well, I appreciate you being honest. I just wish you would have known that, like, I valued our friendship in itself, like, without that. I know. I know that's how we met, but I'm sure, like, we would have met a different way.

You know, making friends a different way and, um, like that was two years of my life and people thought it was crazy because I was waiting for someone who wasn't real. You know? What do you need from me? Has it happened to you?

I know I talked to Rachel a few weeks, like, beginning of this summer, and she said that Bree was talking to Brody because she asked how I had met you. She's like, how'd you meet Jess again? And I was like, well, I tried to go in with Brody, and she's like, oh, is that the guy that Bree's talking to also? And what's OMA and whatnot? And then I never, like, I mean, well, I guess I asked.

And he said no, but I don't know. I mean, I'm being honest with you. It did happen with Brie, too. And Brie also found out. And I'm just kind of like, Brie had messaged Megan, like,

I don't know how much time you have, but, um, Bree, you messaged my sister about it. So, like, what initially happened? Like, I'm just going to be 100% transparent with you. Um, the same way that I met you, like, is the same way that I met Lauren, the same way that I met Bree, like, three of my best friends. And it's really, really hard for me to, like, process that, like, I had to do that to, like...

find some good friendships, but I think that a lot of it stems from, like, my childhood trauma, like, everybody leaving me and, like, nothing everlasting, so it's, like, I always just knew, like, you know, I, like, we met you guys all that way, and, um,

I mean, I talked to my Annalisha about it. She's really good at, like, understanding that she's, like, known me for so long. So, like, the way that she worded it, this is, like, it made sense. And I need to write it down because I process everything right now. But, I mean, I don't know why I feel like I can't make friends on my own and I have to, like, use some sort of leverage to gain friendships.

And then, like, just, like, you know, everyone's like, well, why don't you just, like, ghost them and stuff? And it's like, well, I would be, like, you guys upset, like, if I didn't respond or, you know, like, I saw the emotions behind it. I'm like, well, I don't want to be the reason for that. And so I would just, like, put the Band-Aid over it and, like, keep responding and keep talking. But, like, those brilliant guys are super, super toxic and not good.

I mean, I remember a few times that I tried to stop, but, like, every, I feel like every time I tried to stop, there would be a near-death situation or, like, you know, like, in which case I would have almost been giving you an out, but... Yeah, and that did happen, but, like, it's hard because, like, I don't really feel that way. Like, I don't feel like I'm...

Like, the napkin I had Brody on, I mean, added kitten at one point, and, like, all that just really confuses me. Like, why...

Like why is, if you were trying to stop things or like end like that, then why was it like trying to cause conflicts in other parts? Like of my life I only talk to myself. Was that like when you and Kenton started talking? Yeah. I think it's because we like showed up on like the suggested thing or something.

But I don't think, like, I was trying to, like, go out of my way to, like, cause conflict between you and Kenton at all. I don't know why. I don't remember why I did that, though. How did it happen? And, I mean, I'm... You know, when I saw, like, you were with Kenton, like, it was... Like, it made me really happy because that's all I wanted for you. And, I mean, that's what I still want for you no matter what. But I just was, like...

knowing that you had moved on and found somebody that like you deserve because of the kind of a person you are like that made me happy and that's what I like wanted to see come from all of it like where I don't I have I couldn't like I just I wasn't able to stop talking and I don't know why and I don't know if it's just something I held on to because I had nothing else to hold on to I have no idea

And I don't know if maybe, like, I thought, you know, if, like, you guys stopped talking, maybe you're like, well, I no longer have a purpose with jazz. And so, like, I have to, like, talk to a therapist to, like, really process all of it because it is a lot right now. And I just want to, like, go through it the best way possible and...

I mean, you have questions. I have questions, like, for myself, but, like, I don't know how to answer them right now because I don't understand everything other than, like, what my aunt was talking to me about or, like, my friend Sarah. I mean, Lauren messaged everybody in my life and told everybody about it, and I have lost everybody. I know it's kind of like a lot right now, but I wanted to tell you before anybody else did because, I mean, I don't know if Bree's going to message you or anything, and I just...

Well, I appreciate you calling me and owning up to it, but I think I have a lot to process because, I mean, I had even... I mean, I'll be honest, I had friends, like, from the beginning who were like, that is not real.

Like, it's just, she's going, like, hi, you have, blah, blah, blah. And I was just like, no, there's no way. Like, there's no way. There's no way. There's no way. And for years now, even though I've been done with Brody, I still have failed to have that closure. And, like, he's still there, but he's not there. I know, and that's kind of, like, why I want to leave. Yeah. It's just really messed with my head for, like, even this whole time. So... Like, still...

Yeah, I mean, Kenton and I were in Omaha last weekend for a getaway, and we went to a mall, and I was like, this is the mall that I spent, like, five hours at when I was waiting for Brody on today. Mm-hmm. So, like... You like talking to Kenton about that? Yeah, I mean, Kenton knows everything about Brody. It was, I mean, it was a very, very, very hard time for me. I mean, I waited for Thanksgiving and Christmas because...

I was going to go meet him and spend time with his family and all of the things, you know, just to be let down every time and be heartbroken every time. And I, I mean, I loved you as a friend, but I fell in love with Brody. Like, I literally, like, I mean, you know that. You were with me through it all, obviously. Like, I...

You know, that's why I wanted to talk to you about it. I appreciate it just a lot. I just need, like, I want to give you whatever you need from me. Because, like, it's not fair to you. But I just, it's really hard because, like, you know, like, that was our situation. But on the other side of it, like, I did gain, like, one of my best friends. And it's hard because it happened the way that it did.

I just want to... I don't want to... I mean, it hurts me that I hurt you, and I did the entire time. And, like, even with, like, it lingering, and I know what you mean about, like, no closure, like, obviously on Snapchat and stuff, but, like, I think I just didn't know how to, like... I think I tried to, like, stay available if you ever needed anything, but, like, at the same time, like, it doesn't make any sense because I didn't want to keep going with it, you know? Like, it was just, like...

Like, eventually I just wanted, I mean, as happy as I am, like, everything has come out now. And I can, like, start, like, processing things and, like, going to therapy for it. Like, it is hard. I don't know. I don't really have, like, the right words to say in regards to all of it. I know that I made a mistake. And, I mean, hurting you, hurting you three, like, hurting anybody wasn't what I ever wanted. I just hoped that it would just, like...

I mean, just, like, talking stages, like, with people, like, it just kind of goes away. Like, if, you know, you don't see each other, you don't have anything to hold on to. And I don't know if, like, the talking just made it harder to just, like, put it behind or what, but something did. And, you know, I don't... I don't really know. And Lauren has gotten really nasty with it. And, I mean, that's fair. But, like, I don't know how to, like...

not have Bree and I don't have her anymore and I'm just I'm like I mean before anybody else told you I wanted to talk to you about it because I want like I said I know that that like ruins a lot of trust and it like put you through a lot and like you said it's still affecting you and I just want you to know that like I'm not what I did and I'm really sorry whatever you like need from me

I think I just had to think about it because it was just, like, a lot of manipulation and, like, I don't know. The only word I can think of is, like, brain sucking and heart fuck. Like, it was a little fuck with my heart, fuck with my brain. And, like, I mean, it took a lot, a lot, a lot for me to, like, be done with him because I honestly fell so hard. Which, like I said, I feel absolutely stupid for because I never met him, never talked to him on the phone. Like...

I don't want you to feel stupid for that because, I mean, I understand, like, why you do, but, like, that's what happens a lot, you know? Like, we've all done that and we've all done that. Like, when you talk to somebody and we talk a lot, you know, like, stuff, things get involved, you know? And I don't feel like you're in the wrong for feeling that way and I know that you're going to feel that way. And especially with me, like, talking to you about it right now, you know? So, like, I don't want you, like, I don't.

I don't think you're stupid. I don't think any of it, because, I mean, I was on the other side of it, you know? Like, I know, like, we talked about a lot of things, and I don't know. I just... I've got to go, and my patient's going to be here in nine minutes, so... Okay. Have a good day, ma'am. Bye.

Listening back to the phone call, I can tell my head wasn't there because I was so in shock and...

reacting to everything that had already happened that morning. I definitely wish I could have been a lot stronger with her and firmer with her and angry with her, but I was just so frozen. Like I said, I literally had to have someone texting me what to say while I was on the phone because that's just how frozen I was. But her saying her main excuse for the whole thing was she had to do this to make friends. And

Did I believe that a little bit when she said it originally? Maybe. But of course, immediately question like, okay, if you were just doing this to make friends, why did it keep going on and on and on after we were already friends with you? We were friends. We were good. Yet it kept going on. And to the extreme that it went on was insane and uncalled for.

Why was it so abusive and so manipulative and so trapping? And the level of extreme that it went to was just insane. I know the other girls tried to get out of the relationship with Brody so many times and she wouldn't let us out of it.

So that was another question I had, like, if this was just for you as Jess being friends with us, then why didn't the Brody stuff end? She has an excuse for freaking everything. And she just went on to say, oh, well, I felt like if you guys didn't have Brody in your life, then you wouldn't want me or need me as a friend anymore. Yeah.

I understand where you're coming from there with your excuse, but obviously I know that's a lie. I told her like we were friends and had Brody not been in the situation at all, we would have been friends and there's no reason for it to have gone to the extreme that it did.

But then also back to her saying she was only doing this to gain friendships. Looking back at that now, I say that's complete bullshit. As we have learned of so many other victims that she has done this to where they were friends first, like anonymous college roommate people she did this to in high school, etc.,

She was friends with all of them first and then brought in a catfish character to them in one way, shape or form, whether it was passing notes or MySpace or Facebook or Tinder or Hinge. That was just her excuse for us. But I think the friendship excuse that she has now is just stupid. Yeah.

If this was just for friendship, then why was Brody asking us for sexual pictures and sexual messages? Why was he so pushy with that? Here's Lauren again.

Jess starts crying alligator tears, talking about how she's so sorry. And she says it so casually for it to be what it was. And she's like, you know, Brody, yeah, that was me. And Monica has to act like she has no idea what Jess is talking about. And I'm sitting there telling Monica what to say or questions to ask. I think it was laughable. I think it was pathetic. I think she was mean.

mid-texting her other victims while she's on the call. She sounded distracted. She sounded so insincere. She sounded like she was doing damage control. I could go on and on. She talks about how it wasn't sexually motivated, which is a huge lie.

I want to preface this by saying that I don't want to talk about this, but I think it's important to shed light on it because it's sick and it's violating. And it was a part of something bigger for me because it was something that I opened up to Brody about and appreciated.

discussed my own struggles and the responses that I got back from Brody were sickening. I mean, if I typed in a certain body part into my search bar, I could scroll the entire probably podcast length of her saying disgusting shit that she wanted to do to me.

Looking back on it, yes, it was disgusting, but it was too much for someone that I've never met before. And I remember pressing the brakes a little bit and being like, I'm not comfortable saying these things. I don't mind if you say them to me, but I'm not going to reciprocate that with that same energy because I have issues with that. And I was trying to open up to him about that so that he would stop saying

being so aggressive and being so sexual all the time when it made me incredibly uncomfortable. The main thing was just, I didn't know what to say back.

it would make me uncomfortable. So I would tell him, yeah, like things are different with me than probably some of the girls you've been with. It's going to take me more time. I need you to be patient with me, but that doesn't mean I don't want these things. It just means I'm going to have to take my time to get there. And I'm going to have to trust you. I also wasn't getting very much from him that made me feel like I could trust him.

He said,

I don't want to read all of it, but I said things are probably going to be a little bit different with me in intimate aspects because I've had some trauma with that and I'm learning not to associate it with negative things. He says, I'm just not used to being told I can't talk about how bad I want a person. I hinted at the idea that he was coming at me a little too strongly.

He says, what if I'm too much for you? What if we're not sexually compatible? I guess I'm just too sexual and I don't mean to be. Then he says, it sounds like you're not ready for a relationship. I don't want to be too much and I don't want to not be enough either. And right now I'm sitting at a yellow light with you. He said, I just don't think the same things are important to us. I said, so what I'm understanding is that you want to fuck me more than you want to see me. He said, no, I just think having that is important. I worry I'm going to be too much for you.

He said, if you don't want to have sex, just say that. I said, why are you saying that? And he said, how you're acting. I said, you're acting like that's the most important aspect of finally meeting and it's not. I want it to happen, but spending time with you for the first time is enough for me. And sex is just a plus. I said, I guess there are things that are going to trigger me or there's going to be times where I don't want to do anything. He said, how have you had hookups if that's the case? I said, because I hadn't processed it yet and I just turned my emotions off and would numb it out.

And it didn't help that I was drinking. It's very common that people who have trauma try to get over it by doing more of it. And he said, so I'm just lucky you're saying. I said, how are you lucky? And he said, so all these other guys got to fuck too. And it was whatever. But I have to be cautious of what I do so I don't cause a trigger. You don't just have a trigger just to have it. You have to know what your trigger is. I sent him a screenshot that says, you may or may not know what's caused it. And that's okay.

He asked me to go into detail about trauma and stuff that had happened to me. I said, I don't want to dangle a carrot in front of your face and then decide I don't want to and not feel like I can stop. I said, you need someone that hasn't gone through what I have. Simple as that. He says, it's not about being with someone that has or hasn't because you're not the first girl that's been through that. I said, I'm fully aware of that. And he said, okay, so again, you can explain what you said. I'm not asking again. I'm trying to be on the same page and understand. I said,

I said, stop demanding things from me. I don't owe you an explanation. What is there not to understand about what I said? I don't want to feel like I can't stop something because I've already started it. And he starts getting mad. He said, I can't beg you to help me understand. And honestly, I don't care anymore. You refuse to help me understand the situation. So if I do something that pisses you off, so be it. You had the chance to open up and refuse to. And now I don't care to know. It is what it is.

I said, lol, you don't care. Say less. Go find someone else. I'm not your problem anymore. He said, no, I don't care because clearly you don't either or you would have talked to me about it. But I'm not going to keep fucking caring when you refuse to open up and help me understand. I said, I would never say that about something you struggle with and don't want to open up about. That's foul. And then he says, it's very obvious you're looking for an out from this so you can run back to him. I said, you think I'm using my sexual trauma as an out? Listen to yourself. What the actual fuck?

And he's just going on and on. I'm saying I'm disgusted. He doesn't think he owes me an apology. I said, you blatantly said I'm looking for an out to be with him. Once again, I confided in you about something I haven't told many people and it backfires on me.

I don't know how to talk about the vibrator. I don't know how to bring it up. When did that happen? I was in North Carolina. Was it a gift like that he sent you? It was a previous gift. From someone else? Yes. I think I screenshotted something on my phone.

And it had the app on it. And he recognized the app and said, you have one of those. It's a remote control vibrator. Someone can control it from anywhere in the world. It connects through the app. You get permission through sending a text message. And they can access it if they have the app downloaded. They can change the speeds and the different settings and whatnot.

And he kept asking me to let him use it. And finally, I did.

I think it happened like once or twice. It wasn't much because it was too much for me. I think it just made me feel shameful or something. I don't know. Because he was so hot and cold, I didn't feel safe with him. And I have to personally be very comfortable with someone in order to do that. I'd never met him. I'd never talked to him on the phone. And I had these thoughts in the back of my head, like, what if this guy isn't real? I just didn't feel comfortable with it.

It definitely revved up to the point where he would be like, well, I'm going to go get off. Good night. Like he would tell me all the time when he was getting off and it wasn't like him talking dirty. It was like, hey, I'm going to go get off. Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow. To the point where you could tell he would get like mad if he didn't get off or finish or whatever. It was annoying. It was frustrating.

I think she has some sort of sexual attraction to women and she can't sit with that. She does not want to believe that and doesn't want to come to terms with that. And then has these relationships with these women, but then claims that she is just trying to make friends with them because it was obvious that when the sex was gone or when the relationship was gone, she wanted me gone. Right.

or she didn't care if I was gone. I remember she one time got actually mad at me that I didn't want to go to sleep in her bed. I think her son was gone to a sleepover or something. And she's like, I can't sleep without someone touching me or like without my body touching someone else's. In my opinion, it didn't sound weird. She liked to have a body next to her while she was sleeping, which I get that. But I didn't want to because I like to spread out while I sleep. And I just didn't want to.

And it became kind of a problem to her. She was just like, all right, fine. I don't remember exactly how mad she got, but she definitely was upset about it. Because I remember asking her the next morning, I was like, were you actually upset with me that I didn't stay in the bed with you? And what did she say? She just said the same thing about how she likes to sleep with people or she doesn't sleep well. Here's Brie.

the grieving part of it, which I did throughout all of the suicide attempts. And I cannot reiterate enough how freeing this was because I hated this person and I couldn't get away from them. And I had been in survival mode for so long.

I was so happy to be free. It sounds so messed up, like, why were you there for so long? I was upset that my, I thought, best friend could do something like this to me. But the thought that I was free of Brody, it was life-changing. Which people also probably won't understand, but I did understand.

No matter what I tried to get away, like I just could not in a way that I could emotionally handle at that time. Whether I blocked him, he'd reach out to me. Someone else would reach out to me. It never ended. And it was like, this is done and I can move on and get on with my life and focus on myself and be happy again. I've had a lot of people say you might have big waves of grief come and hit you. It could happen. It hasn't yet happened.

I'm still very like, this person betrayed me. The hate that grew for this person that kept torturing me and not letting me go, like, I don't miss that at all. After being made to feel crazy for so long, I had cried so much about that stupid situation and grieved it for so long. By that time, I was just like, oh my God, it's finally done. Next time on Something Was Wrong.

She has pictures that are on my camera roll that was never uploaded anywhere. Unless Jess was outside of the restaurant staring at me, seeing me in the sky sitting at the bar, being able to describe the restaurant I was at, knowing what he looked like, there's no way unless she was actually there watching me. It's terrifying to think about this girl who caused so much pain and anguish to all these people, destroying these young women's lives.

This person on the other end immediately was like, who are you? I don't know who you are. And if you keep telling people that we're boyfriend and girlfriend, I am going to call the cops. 14 minutes a time. And I'm just like, what the fuck? Even as a friend with Jessica, she always made me feel like I was not good enough. Like I was not the pretty friend.

So Jess and I loaded up in my Jeep in the middle of the night and drove 500 miles to Wisconsin to this hospital that Mitch was supposedly at. None of us expected it. We turned around and she was right there. She's already been caught red-handed. And she's keeping this story up because she thinks that I'm going to be too embarrassed to admit it to my new boyfriend that I had been catfished, that she could get away with it.

I told the FBI one thing at the end. I said, if you ever get her on anything and you want to arrest her, I want to be there. Thank you so much for listening. Until next time, stay safe, friends.

Something Was Wrong is a Broken Cycle Media production created and hosted by me, Tiffany Reese. This season, our theme song, You Think You, by Gladrags, is covered by Palehound. For music and tour dates, go to palehound.com.

If you'd like to support the show further, you can share episodes with your loved ones, leave a positive review, or follow Something Was Wrong on Instagram at somethingwaswrongpodcast. As always, thank you so much for listening. I think you know me, you don't know me well.

You think you know me, you don't know me at all. You think you know me, you don't know me at all.

If you like Something Was Wrong, you can listen early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.