Wicked Wednesday - The End of the Con

Around the area, there's been a news story I've been following.  At first, the news broke that a woman and her crippled daughter were missing from their Springfield, MO home.  The woman was a 48 year old single mother who cared for her handicapped, 19 year old daughter.  The poor child had muscular dystrophy and leukemia, which left her unable to walk or to take care of herself.

Over the weekend, we heard that DeeDee Blancharde and her daughter, Gypsy, disappeared from their Habitat for Humanity home.  (The one they were given after they lost everything after Hurricane Katrina down in LA.)  Everyone was looking for information as to their whereabouts.  A picture was included of DeeDee and her poor, sickly-looking daughter, holding a puppy together.  Both had big smiles like they hadn't a care in the world.

Next came the horrible, sad news that DeeDee's body had been found.  She was a victim of a horrific stabbing.  Poor, wheelchair-bound Gypsy remained missing.  The search was on.

Next, they said they'd located Gypsy in a suburb of Milwaukee, WI.  She was taken into custody with 'a person of interest'.  The person of interest was a man Gypsy had supposedly met online.  His location was the one from which nasty messages were left on the FB page of the victim after her death.  How many times have we seen the innocent taken advantage of by internet predators?  So sad.

His stepfather claims there's no way the guy could've done it.  He wouldn't hurt a fly.

Except when they got him in custody, he confessed to stabbing the mother multiple times and slitting her throat - saying the whole thing was Gypsy's idea.  Gypsy confessed to at least being in the house at the time of her mother's murder and doing nothing to stop it, or call for help, or anything.  Not surprising since she was all crippled and unable to do for herself. 

Then, in a stunning turn of events, the sheriff of Greene County, MO held a press conference.  (You can read about it all here.) Gypsy isn't 19 - she's 23.  She isn't sick or crippled or wheelchair bound. She's a healthy adult.  Chances are they weren't even from Louisiana. Before Gypsy hightailed it for the great North, she grabbed thousands of dollars in cash from DeeDee's safe. The mother and daughter duo have been scamming people for years.

Maybe Gypsy got tired of playing the part.  Maybe Gypsy wanted a bigger cut.  I guess we'll find out more as the story continues to unfold.  All I know is that DeeDee ran her last con job.  She just never got the chance to realize she'd trained her daughter too well in the world of criminal enterprise.  Here's hoping that Gypsy can't run a con on the criminal justice system and she gets the justice she deserves.

Update from last night after I typed this post: "Things are not always as they appear."