Woman charged for starting GoFundMe posing as father of Texas flooding victim | Texas floods 2025
A Florida woman allegedly pretended to be the grieving father of a teenager killed in July’s deadly Camp Mystic flood in Texas and tried to raise money, resulting in an online impersonation charge, according to authorities.
Accordingly court records Maitlin Paige White, 28, of Crestview, Florida, is accused of impersonating Matthew Childress and soliciting donations in the days after the death of her 18-year-old daughter, Chloe Childress, who worked as a counselor at Camp Mystic in Kerr County, Texas, according to multiple media outlets.
Investigators said White set up a GoFundMe page on July 8, just four days after Chloe’s death, using Childress’ name and her daughter’s photo without her knowledge or permission. The page asked the public to donate money to support the family following the floods that killed 27 campers and counselors.
On July 10, Childress alerted authorities after discovering the fundraising page. Following investigation, detectives found another fundraising account opened in Childress’s name on Spotfund.
After records were requested from both companies, investigators said they obtained information linking the accounts to White, including his name, phone number, email address and bank account details. Records show both accounts were created on the same day, Texas news outlet KTRK reported.
Contacting detectives, White told them she was a “single mother with two young children” and “looking for a quick way to make some money.” according to court records.
During the investigation, Houston area police officer Alan Rosen sent On Facebook on July 11: “We opened an investigation into a case in which an online scammer pretended to be the father of Chloe Childress in Houston and set up a fake GoFundMe page. Within minutes of detectives contacting GoFundMe, the page was taken down and the scam was stopped.”
It was unclear whether Rosen was talking specifically about White’s case. However, Rosen’s office recently confirmed the accusations against White. sending She noted her photo on
Meanwhile, GoFundMe said in a statement to Texas news outlet KRIV in question “We have zero tolerance for abuse of our platform and bad actors who seek to take advantage of the generosity of others. Our team took swift action in July to remove the fundraiser, refund donors, and ban the account from future fundraising on GoFundMe. Thanks to our Trust and Safety procedures, at no point did the organizer have access to the total $5 raised.”
