CA CA - Kristen Modafferi, 18, San Francisco, 23 June 1997

[ekardh]

It bothers me about the blonde woman. There are only a certain number of reasons why she never came forward:

• She was involved in Kristen's disappearance
• She was distrusting of law enforcement
• She passed away before she realized Kristen had gone
• She was never actually seen with Kristen

I could understand if she was a passing acquaintance, but didn't the eyewitnesses say the pair of them looked very pally together? Although it could be a complete red herring, if several co-workers identified Kristen with her, we have to take their word for it.

 

[Megnut]

If KM placed or responded to the photography ad, the blonde may have had the complementary role. How much easier to be lulled by a female..... and if said female was the lure... for her creepy boyfriend, perhaps KM felt safe leaving with her, unaware of the deceit, the trap she was being led to.

I think poor, trusting KM was led into a trap.... by a pair who knew exactly what they were doing....

 

[austinhazel]

I just saw the old UM segment focusing on KM (I hadn't seen this when I first posted). Though I completely agree that many of these segments are biased one way or another, seeing this & hearing the interviews with the parents, friends, etc. gives me a better picture of KM & the case.

I still think there's a remote possibility that she died by accidentally falling into the ocean & no one actually saw this (or someone saw this & didn't report it).

However, after seeing the segment I am more convinced that foul play was likely involved in her disappearance. Maybe JO had something to do with this, and maybe the blonde woman was also involved.

I also believe there's a good chance KM placed the ad in the paper that was found. Her parents said that the woman who placed the ad sounded like KM due to similar interests, etc. And, it makes sense that, given KM was new to the S.F. area - she would want to explore her new surroundings with a companion, etc.

I'm going to listen to the Dennis Mahon KM podcasts at some point soon; haven't done that yet, but I'm sure they'll be insightful.

This is one of the few cases I keep coming back to. Very intriguing & also sad. Hopefully we'll find out what happened to KM some day.

This is a case I keep coming back to as well, it's like the pieces are there they just haven't been connected yet fully. What also hurts this case is the personal ad was found too late as the information as to who placed it and who may have responded to it was purged sometime after the ad was discovered.

 

[austinhazel]

I just saw the old UM segment focusing on KM (I hadn't seen this when I first posted). Though I completely agree that many of these segments are biased one way or another, seeing this & hearing the interviews with the parents, friends, etc. gives me a better picture of KM & the case.

I still think there's a remote possibility that she died by accidentally falling into the ocean & no one actually saw this (or someone saw this & didn't report it).

However, after seeing the segment I am more convinced that foul play was likely involved in her disappearance. Maybe JO had something to do with this, and maybe the blonde woman was also involved.

I also believe there's a good chance KM placed the ad in the paper that was found. Her parents said that the woman who placed the ad sounded like KM due to similar interests, etc. And, it makes sense that, given KM was new to the S.F. area - she would want to explore her new surroundings with a companion, etc.

I'm going to listen to the Dennis Mahon KM podcasts at some point soon; haven't done that yet, but I'm sure they'll be insightful.

This is one of the few cases I keep coming back to. Very intriguing & also sad. Hopefully we'll find out what happened to KM some day.

This is a case I keep coming back to as well, it's like the pieces are there they just haven't been connected yet fully. What also hurts this case is the personal ad was found too late as the information as to who placed it and who may have responded to it was purged sometime after the ad was discovered.

 

[austinhazel]

OK, I just listened to all of DM's podcasts about KM from 2017. These were apparently re-done (or re-posted) in 2020. I also heard the last couple he did in 2020 (updated info.). And, I saw the KM segment in the late 1990's "America's Most Wanted" episode.

Wow - this is a hell of a great podcast! DM has done a very thorough deep dive in this case. He does repeat a lot throughout, but that's probably due to knowing that not everyone wants to listen to all of them.

This podcast has filled in a lot of the blanks I didn't know about the case. There is definitely a good amount of info. here, but there are also a lot of rabbit holes to go down as well.

So, I have some new (or modified) observations/opinions - due to the info. in the podcast:

-KM was only in SF for the summer. She wanted to be independent, experience life, and sightsee in SF. She was only renting the room in Oakland for several months. So, everything points to her planning to go back to college in NC at the end of the summer.

-DM constantly refers to KM as being "abducted" throughout the podcast, even though no one knows what happened to her & she has never been found. However, he is very convincing.

-I find the idea of KM accidentally falling into the ocean even less likely now. I don't think she went to the ocean the last day she was seen (June 23rd), since she had apparently been there two days earlier.

-In one of the podcasts, there was speculation that KM's body may have been in the basement of the house next door to the one where she was renting a room; at that time, that was a "halfway house" for criminals. So, the theory was that KM may have been kidnapped by someone in that house & then killed in the basement (and then later moved). However, I find this extremely far-fetched. There is no real good proof that KM was ever in that basement. And, I honestly don't believe that KM ever went home after leaving the coffee shop on 6/23.

So in the AMW episode the one thing I am interested in is SGT John Bradley saying "But he is connected and we need to nail his connection down to this case" Referring to JO. We all know what's publicly known about this case but I would have to imagine they have at least one solid clue or evidence that is not publicly known that would have SGT JB to make this statement on a major TV show. Also since you saw the episode I assume you saw the witness statement given by the assignment editor Bill McGee and the detail he tells what JO said in his phone call. It is very hard to read but I tried my best to read it to see if anything stands out about what JO says and in JO's call he did mention Land's end. Now I wonder was it public knowledge that KM was going to potentially visit Land's end yet or not, because JO made the phone call 10 days after KM vanished. Now I can imagine KM vanishing was public knowledge at this point but how much of the details of her day were disclosed? If the media that reported her disappearance never mentioned land's end then how could JO possible know she was even thinking of going? When it comes to the podcast that Dennis has created it is probably the most in depth discussion about KM that there has ever been! his podcast goes over about 40/50% of the case, he will gladly tell you much more if you ever want to know!

 

[austinhazel]

To add to my last post:

-I think whatever happened to KM occurred somewhere after she left her job at the coffee house & before she went home that night.

-KM never clocked out the last day she was at work. However, I take this at face value - i.e., she probably just forgot. I don't think this has anything to do with her disappearance.

-KM didn't seem to know that many people in SF, which makes perfect sense - given that she was only there for less than a month before she disappeared & wasn't from that area.

-KM didn't seem to know her room-mates that well at all. Apparently, in the approximately 23 days she was living at the house, she went to work in the morning, did sight-seeing in the afternoon/evening - and then typically got home late every night. She was also working a 2nd job on some week-ends. So, I suspect she barely saw many/most of her room-mates....except for possibly the Sunday night before her disappearance - when apparently they all had dinner together, etc.

-I don't suspect any of the room-mates as having been involved in what happened to KM, nor does DM. Since it doesn't look like she went home the last day she was seen (after work), the likely-hood of any of them having been involved is slim. And, there was never anything linking any of them to her disappearance.

-I definitely believe JO had something to do with KM's disappearance. His one-time gf JL was very possibly connected to this as well. In fact, I'm thinking that JL may have been the "mysterious" blonde woman that was last seen with KM. I know JL didn't have naturally blonde hair, but it could easily have been dyed - or a blonde wig.

-Despite what JL may have done, I feel bad for her. As DM went over in the podcast, she was abandoned at birth & had a difficult life. She also obviously seemed controlled/victimized by JO.

If you go all the way back in this thread you'll see someone mention a statement about one of the roommates, it's basically one of them (they did not say which one) giving a statement on how they barley knew KM but how they were still affected by the loss and haunted and wanted to help. Despite some questionable moves by the roommates I doubt they are involved at all. What motive would they even have to do anything?

 

[austinhazel]

It bothers me about the blonde woman. There are only a certain number of reasons why she never came forward:

• She was involved in Kristen's disappearance
• She was distrusting of law enforcement
• She passed away before she realized Kristen had gone
• She was never actually seen with Kristen

I could understand if she was a passing acquaintance, but didn't the eyewitnesses say the pair of them looked very pally together? Although it could be a complete red herring, if several co-workers identified Kristen with her, we have to take their word for it.

Yes, the eyewitness saw them standing close together which would have us believe they must know each other. After all the mall was described as dead and low foot traffic on weekdays around the time she was last seen. So it makes me wonder why would they stand too close if they did not know each other?

 

[ekardh]

What I don't get is that Jill Lampo said that Jon Onuma tore the pages out of her diary, because they could incriminate him.

Well, she wrote the diary. Why couldn't she tell them what those pages contained? If it's because it might implicate her as well, why bother mentioning it?

 

[Sonny Crockett]

Yes, the more you look at the KM case more questions than answers come up:

-In DM's podcast, he mentions several times that the last day KM was seen (6/23) she asked her co-workers at the coffee shop what suggestions they had as to where she could go sight-seeing. It was her last day before she was scheduled to start classes at Berkeley (on 6/24), and she wanted to go somewhere (that she hadn't been) after work. Apparently she felt that it may be the last time she could go sight-seeing for a while due to her forthcoming classes. And, they had some suggestions - but she had done all/most of them. However, she also apparently asked her co-workers for directions to Baker Beach - which was located near Land's End Beach. So, did she go there after right after work?!

However, if she did go there right after work - what was she doing with the blonde woman (in the mall) not long after her shift ended?!

Did KM have plans to meet up with her beforehand, or did she just run into her in the mall coincidentally as she was leaving?! In either case, it looks like she did know her. I.e., I agree that most people don't stand that close together unless they know each other ahead of time.

So, this begs the question: Was KM actually the woman seen with the blonde woman?! I believe her co-workers saw her a distance away; but, given that there weren't a lot of other people in the mall at that time of day, you would think they would have a hard time mistaking her.

That all being said, even if KM was the one seen with the blonde woman, apparently her manager at the coffee shop saw KM leave the mall alone. If this is true, then just because she was seen talking to the woman at the mall - that doesn't mean she stayed with her and/or that she had plans with her later that day.

Shifting gears & despite what I said in previous posts, I'm going to go back to the idea that KM may have died as a result of falling into the ocean. I.e., if she did go to Land's end after work (with or without anyone else) & given that this is an area where people have lost their footing, fallen into the water, and drowned.....I can see this as being something that could have happened to her on 6/23. This is especially plausible/possible if she went there in the evening, when visibility wasn't as good & others may not have seen what happened to her as easily as during the day.

If you go all the way back in this thread you'll see someone mention a statement about one of the roommates, it's basically one of them (they did not say which one) giving a statement on how they barley knew KM but how they were still affected by the loss and haunted and wanted to help. Despite some questionable moves by the roommates I doubt they are involved at all. What motive would they even have to do anything?

Well, anyone can have a motive to do anything - and sometimes that motive is only known to them. But, in this case - I agree that the room-mates probably weren't involved in her disappearance. My reasons for thinking this is that I don't believe she made it home that night.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

Another point re: this KM case:

I know this hasn't been discussed much on this thread (or in DM's podcast), but what if KM met with foul play & it had nothing to do with JO/JL, etc?! Just because JL made some incriminating comments to her uncle years ago which seemed to indicate she had something to do with KM's disappearance - JL may have been delusional, and/or may have been talking about someone else.

Yes, I agree that - based on the research that everyone has done - there is a strong suggestion that JO/JL may have been involved here.

But, what if they weren't involved? And, even if KM was the one seen with the blonde woman in the mall on 6/23, it's still possible her disappearance had nothing to do with the blonde woman or JO.

The reason I say this is that sometimes when missing persons/cold cases are solved years after the fact, the culprit is someone that hadn't been mentioned before (in the investigation and/or news about the case).

 

[ekardh]

Yes, the more you look at the KM case more questions than answers come up:

-In DM's podcast, he mentions several times that the last day KM was seen (6/23) she asked her co-workers at the coffee shop what suggestions they had as to where she could go sight-seeing. It was her last day before she was scheduled to start classes at Berkeley (on 6/24), and she wanted to go somewhere (that she hadn't been) after work. Apparently she felt that it may be the last time she could go sight-seeing for a while due to her forthcoming classes. And, they had some suggestions - but she had done all/most of them. However, she also apparently asked her co-workers for directions to Baker Beach - which was located near Land's End Beach. So, did she go there after right after work?!

However, if she did go there right after work - what was she doing with the blonde woman (in the mall) not long after her shift ended?!

Did KM have plans to meet up with her beforehand, or did she just run into her in the mall coincidentally as she was leaving?! In either case, it looks like she did know her. I.e., I agree that most people don't stand that close together unless they know each other ahead of time.

So, this begs the question: Was KM actually the woman seen with the blonde woman?! I believe her co-workers saw her a distance away; but, given that there weren't a lot of other people in the mall at that time of day, you would think they would have a hard time mistaking her.

That all being said, even if KM was the one seen with the blonde woman, apparently her manager at the coffee shop saw KM leave the mall alone. If this is true, then just because she was seen talking to the woman at the mall - that doesn't mean she stayed with her and/or that she had plans with her later that day.

Shifting gears & despite what I said in previous posts, I'm going to go back to the idea that KM may have died as a result of falling into the ocean. I.e., if she did go to Land's end after work (with or without anyone else) & given that this is an area where people have lost their footing, fallen into the water, and drowned.....I can see this as being something that could have happened to her on 6/23. This is especially plausible/possible if she went there in the evening, when visibility wasn't as good & others may not have seen what happened to her as easily as during the day.



Well, anyone can have a motive to do anything - and sometimes that motive is only known to them. But, in this case - I agree that the room-mates probably weren't involved in her disappearance. My reasons for thinking this is that I don't believe she made it home that night.

The consensus is that Onuma is a major dirtbag. At worst, he's a murderer, at best he's a creep who interfered with an investigation. However, I've also said a few times that I wouldn't rule out an accidental drowning at Lands End. I think it's too complacent to assume somebody would've seen Kristen have an accident. What if she had wandered off the beaten path and found a discreet spot where she met her fate?

If not for Onuma and the mysterious blonde lady, I would be fairly sold on this theory. Based on what we *know* (Kristen asked about visiting the beach, she was last seen on her own, and the dog tracked her scent as far as Lands End), there isn't any evidence of foul play. It sounds like the witness was sure it was Kristen he saw with the blonde lady. I know eyewitnesses can often be unreliable, but if the mall was deserted, surely he wasn't mistaken? But Kristen had not been in San Fran long, right? How come she was so close to someone already? And if they were so close, why did the blonde never come forward? As usual, too many questions and not enough answers...

 

[Sonny Crockett]

Exactly. Just because JO is a creep, that doesn't mean he was responsible for/involved in KM's disappearance. Maybe he did make the call to the news station (about KM) because he was angry at the woman/women who worked at the YMCA & were hassling his then-gf JL - and wanted to falsely incriminate them - as he stated. Sure, it's a scum-bag move on on his part & he should have had charges brought up against him just for this (misleading an investigation, etc.) - however, this in & of it itself doesn't necessarily mean he's a killer.

But then again, he may have been involved.

It sounds like the witness was sure it was Kristen he saw with the blonde lady. I know eyewitnesses can often be unreliable, but if the mall was deserted, surely he wasn't mistaken? But Kristen had not been in San Fran long, right? How come she was so close to someone already? And if they were so close, why did the blonde never come forward? As usual, too many questions and not enough answers...

Agreed. If this was KM, I don't see how she & the blonde woman could have known other for that long, given that she had only been in SF for less than a month at that point. However, they may have still gotten close quickly - maybe.

Here's something else to consider: What if KM didn't know the blonde woman well at all, but she just randomly ran into her when leaving the mall?! It's unlikely, but possible that this happened. Maybe the blonde woman had been a customer @ the coffee place, and/or KM knew her in connection with the other job she had (the museum). So, they started talking - which delayed KM leaving the mall. As far as the alleged physical closeness with a near-stranger (if she was a near-stranger), there could be several reasonable explanations for this. However, if it was KM that the manager saw leaving the mall alone, then perhaps they just had a long conversation - and then went their separate ways.

I can see numerous reasons why the blonde woman hasn't come forward:

1) It wasn't KM who was seen with her.
2) She was involved in the disappearance, so of course she didn't want to incriminate herself.
3) She had no connection to the disappearance, but didn't know anything that could help with the search. So, since she had nothing of value to tell the authorities - decided she didn't want to get involved (maybe due to the high profile nature of the case, etc.)
4) She never heard about the case (unlikely), or else didn't know KM's full name, so didn't connect her with the case (also unlikely).

 

[austinhazel]

Another point re: this KM case:

I know this hasn't been discussed much on this thread (or in DM's podcast), but what if KM met with foul play & it had nothing to do with JO/JL, etc?! Just because JL made some incriminating comments to her uncle years ago which seemed to indicate she had something to do with KM's disappearance - JL may have been delusional, and/or may have been talking about someone else.

Yes, I agree that - based on the research that everyone has done - there is a strong suggestion that JO/JL may have been involved here.

But, what if they weren't involved? And, even if KM was the one seen with the blonde woman in the mall on 6/23, it's still possible her disappearance had nothing to do with the blonde woman or JO.

The reason I say this is that sometimes when missing persons/cold cases are solved years after the fact, the culprit is someone that hadn't been mentioned before (in the investigation and/or news about the case).

You aren't wrong of the possibility of foul play from someone unknown. As far as anyone knows there was no serial killer or known rapist who used personal ads to target his victims, or prowling malls. People have suggested this in the past but from what is known there just is not anyone that has come to light.

 

[austinhazel]

You aren't wrong of the possibility of foul play from someone unknown. As far as anyone knows there was no serial killer or known rapist who used personal ads to target his victims, or prowling malls. People have suggested this in the past but from what is known there just is not anyone that has come to light.

Honestly though I wouldn't be shocked or surprised if when this case gets solved if the suspect is someone completely random like you mentioned happening in past cases

 

[austinhazel]

The consensus is that Onuma is a major dirtbag. At worst, he's a murderer, at best he's a creep who interfered with an investigation. However, I've also said a few times that I wouldn't rule out an accidental drowning at Lands End. I think it's too complacent to assume somebody would've seen Kristen have an accident. What if she had wandered off the beaten path and found a discreet spot where she met her fate?

If not for Onuma and the mysterious blonde lady, I would be fairly sold on this theory. Based on what we *know* (Kristen asked about visiting the beach, she was last seen on her own, and the dog tracked her scent as far as Lands End), there isn't any evidence of foul play. It sounds like the witness was sure it was Kristen he saw with the blonde lady. I know eyewitnesses can often be unreliable, but if the mall was deserted, surely he wasn't mistaken? But Kristen had not been in San Fran long, right? How come she was so close to someone already? And if they were so close, why did the blonde never come forward? As usual, too many questions and not enough answers...

That is possible too, and with crashing waves hitting rocks will easily wash away any trace that bloodhounds can track. it really can't be ruled out with how vast that place is. I'm actually looking at images of it right now and it is bigger than I though.

 

[austinhazel]

Exactly. Just because JO is a creep, that doesn't mean he was responsible for/involved in KM's disappearance. Maybe he did make the call to the news station (about KM) because he was angry at the woman/women who worked at the YMCA & were hassling his then-gf JL - and wanted to falsely incriminate them - as he stated. Sure, it's a scum-bag move on on his part & he should have had charges brought up against him just for this (misleading an investigation, etc.) - however, this in & of it itself doesn't necessarily mean he's a killer.

But then again, he may have been involved.



Agreed. If this was KM, I don't see how she & the blonde woman could have known other for that long, given that she had only been in SF for less than a month at that point. However, they may have still gotten close quickly - maybe.

Here's something else to consider: What if KM didn't know the blonde woman well at all, but she just randomly ran into her when leaving the mall?! It's unlikely, but possible that this happened. Maybe the blonde woman had been a customer @ the coffee place, and/or KM knew her in connection with the other job she had (the museum). So, they started talking - which delayed KM leaving the mall. As far as the alleged physical closeness with a near-stranger (if she was a near-stranger), there could be several reasonable explanations for this. However, if it was KM that the manager saw leaving the mall alone, then perhaps they just had a long conversation - and then went their separate ways.

I can see numerous reasons why the blonde woman hasn't come forward:

1) It wasn't KM who was seen with her.
2) She was involved in the disappearance, so of course she didn't want to incriminate herself.
3) She had no connection to the disappearance, but didn't know anything that could help with the search. So, since she had nothing of value to tell the authorities - decided she didn't want to get involved (maybe due to the high profile nature of the case, etc.)
4) She never heard about the case (unlikely), or else didn't know KM's full name, so didn't connect her with the case (also unlikely).

The two women who JO tried to implement were asked separately who do they think would do such a thing and they both gave the name of JO. So I'd have to assume they at least know him enough to know he's a vengeful person who's willing to lie to that extent. My question is why was he never charged for interfering with the investigation? Does LE fully believe that he is responsible and they don't want to waste time trying to charge him with that? I can't get why he was never charged just for the interference.

 

[austinhazel]

What I don't get is that Jill Lampo said that Jon Onuma tore the pages out of her diary, because they could incriminate him.

Well, she wrote the diary. Why couldn't she tell them what those pages contained? If it's because it might implicate her as well, why bother mentioning it?

And they were on the days of June 23rd and the 24th! what happened within those two days that could incriminate him? KM was last seen on the 23rd so why also rip out the page of June 24th? Could he have kept her captive till the 24th? Obviously this is just speculation IF he is involved but who knows? maybe he did something completely unrelated and nothing to do with KM but it was something still illegal.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

Yes, I completely agree that JO's call to the news station in 1997, JL's later incriminating comments to her uncle, and someone ripping out the pages of the diary from 6/23 & 6/24 were all extremely suspicious. But, again - even though it's possible/probable?! something horrible happened here, that doesn't mean that KM was involved.

You aren't wrong of the possibility of foul play from someone unknown. As far as anyone knows there was no serial killer or known rapist who used personal ads to target his victims, or prowling malls. People have suggested this in the past but from what is known there just is not anyone that has come to light.

If KM did meet with foul play (and if the culprit wasn't JO/JL) then it's possible it was completely random & had nothing to do with personal ads, someone seeing her & making contact with her in the mall where she worked, etc.

Maybe it happened after she left the mall when she was sight-seeing somewhere, etc. IIRC KM typically went places alone (again, she was new to the area and didn't know many people), and she also didn't have a car - so relied on public transportation (bus, street-car, possibly BART, etc.). So, it's entirely possible that she attracted the unwanted attention of a random criminal somewhere & her disappearance had nothing to do with the possible leads that are currently being discussed.

 

[ekardh]

Thinking out loud, I wonder if the torn diary was Jill Lampo's payback against Onuma?

I don't know. Something about her story doesn't quite sound right. As I said before, if she knows the diary contained stuff that incriminated him, why didn't she reveal what it was? It was her diary! Secondly, would a manipulative boyfriend/killer, tear out incriminating pages of his girlfriend's diary, or would he just dispose of the diary?

After Onuma implicated Jill Lampo in Kristen's disappearance, she might have deliberately torn pages out of her diary from when Kristen disappeared and blamed it on Onuma in revenge, notwithstanding the guilt of either party.

 

[Sonny Crockett]

In DM's podcast, he mentioned that a customer at the coffee shop had asked KM out, and she apparently declined. Since no follow-up was made regarding this, I don't think the authorities were too concerned about this guy (or else they could never find him). No name is mentioned here, so it may not have made too much of an impression on KM's co-workers. And, the fact that this happened is no surprise given that KM was attractive/friendly & in a job where she regularly interacted with the public, etc.

Shifting gears: to follow-up on a discussion several pages back re: KM, after doing more research on the case I don't believe that her disappearance had anything to do with someone from her past (in NC) who had followed her to SF. When I initially started looking into this, I thought it may have been a possibility. However, given that this hasn't been mentioned by anyone, I find this unlikely. I.e., while in SF, as far as we know KM never made any complaints to anyone about an individual/individuals harassing her; her room-mates never mentioned any odd calls to the house, etc. This doesn't mean an incident/incidents never happened, but given the lack of any evidence supporting anything like this - there's nothing to go on here.

Another point: IIRC KM did not have a cell-phone; or, at least a cell-phone wasn't mentioned in any of the info. I read up about the case. Makes sense, since not everyone had cell-phones in the late '90's. I myself didn't get one until the latter 200X's.

Thinking out loud, I wonder if the torn diary was Jill Lampo's payback against Onuma?

I don't know. Something about her story doesn't quite sound right. As I said before, if she knows the diary contained stuff that incriminated him, why didn't she reveal what it was? It was her diary! Secondly, would a manipulative boyfriend/killer, tear out incriminating pages of his girlfriend's diary, or would he just dispose of the diary?

After Onuma implicated Jill Lampo in Kristen's disappearance, she might have deliberately torn pages out of her diary from when Kristen disappeared and blamed it on Onuma in revenge, notwithstanding the guilt of either party.

Agree with all of this. The problem with both JO & JL is that neither of them are credible. And, AFAIK there was no real investigation done on either of them re: the KM case. We know that JO is definitely a proven liar re: his fabricating the story he called into the news.