S2 E2: Strange Ailments

[0] Wondry Plus subscribers can listen to something was wrong early and ad -free right now.

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[2] I'm Dan Tibergki.

[3] In 2011, something strange began to happen at a high school in upstate New York.

[4] A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms, and spreading fast.

[5] What's the answer?

[6] And what do you do if they tell you it's all in your head?

[7] Hysterical.

[8] A new podcast from Wondry and Pineapple Street Studios.

[9] binge all episodes of hysterical early and ad -free on Wondery Plus.

[10] This podcast is intended for mature audiences and could be triggering to some.

[11] Please use discretion when listening.

[12] Factitious disorder imposed on another FDIA, formerly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy, is a mental illness in which a person acts as if an individual he or she is caring for has a physical or mental illness when the person is not really sick.

[13] According to the Cleveland Clinic, in this mental illness, the adult perpetrator has the diagnosis and directly produces or lies about the illness in another, under his or her care, usually a child under six years of age.

[14] It is considered a form of abuse by the American Professional Society on the abuse of children.

[15] People with FDIA have an inner need for the other person, often his or her child to be seen as ill or injured.

[16] It is not done to achieve a concrete benefit such as financial gain.

[17] According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5, there is no evidence of external rewards and no other illness to explain the symptoms.

[18] Fortunately, it is rare.

[19] Two out of 100 ,000 children.

[20] The Cleveland Clinic lists the symptoms of factitious disorder imposed on another as, often a parent, usually a mother, but can't.

[21] be an adult child of an elderly patient, spouse, or caretaker of a disabled adult, might be a health care professional, is very friendly and cooperative with health care providers, appears overly concerned about the child or designated patient, and may also suffer from factitious disorder imposed on self.

[22] Other warning signs include, a child having a history of many hospitalizations, often with a strange set of symptoms.

[23] Worsening of a child's symptoms generally is reported by the mother and is not witnessed by the hospital staff.

[24] The child's reported condition and symptoms do not agree with the results of diagnostic tests.

[25] There might be more than one unusual illness or death of children in the family.

[26] And the child's condition improves in the hospital, but symptoms reoccur when the child returns home.

[27] I'm Tiffany Reese, and this is, something was wrong.

[28] So what I don't, thinking of me, you don't know me where.

[29] So what happens is she's super sick, spiraling down health -wise.

[30] And at this point, right before she moves again, her son becomes very sick.

[31] And she says he's been having seizures.

[32] And so he's on phenobarbital.

[33] And I never saw him have a seizure, but he didn't talk a lot.

[34] It was very odd, beautiful baby.

[35] he was not a baby then, I guess, young child, toddler, very sweet -spirited, but he didn't talk a lot.

[36] And I remember thinking that was odd.

[37] Right before this next move, she says his kidneys are shutting down and he's kidney transplant and he's super sick.

[38] And so all of a sudden the focus is now shifting to the child.

[39] Like this is the child is sick.

[40] But I remember telling me, my husband actually doubted that my son was having seizures.

[41] because he never saw him have a seizure.

[42] And I'm making him give the son, Nina Barbatol, because they share custody, right?

[43] So the son is going to stay at his dad's house, her first husband, who she's divorced from now, right?

[44] So he has him, like, probably what, every other weekend or something like this.

[45] And the medicine will go with him, of course.

[46] And then the husband starts questioning, like, why am I giving my son this medication?

[47] I've never seen him how many, I remember that conversation.

[48] And I can remember her outrage of, my god like why why are you questioning me this is you know this is bullshit this is ridiculous and i remember being mad oh what a jerk what an asshole it's like a two -month time period and then you know this big scare and he might need a kidney transplant and he's having to go to the doctors and then all of a sudden he doesn't need a kidney transplant his kidneys are working better he's feeling better she's sicker We were all, like, so concerned for this little boy, and then all of a sudden he's not sick anymore.

[49] Her son consistently had these strange ailments, odd elements.

[50] Things didn't make sense.

[51] When we were training together, she told me that she was leaving the position because her son had a brain tumor and she was going to have to take care of him.

[52] so at this point we're going to jump a house now so she says i found this amazing house it's um like 45 minutes outside of our main city here it's a beautiful area it's kind of up the mountains a little bit and she's like i found the most beautiful house ever and she shows me pictures of it super super super cool and i was like yeah but it's 45 minutes away like so i was like you know we're not able to help you as much like i i'm that's my concern with this because like She was 10 minutes away from my house before she needed something.

[53] I was there.

[54] I can remember one time she was too sick to pick up the kids from school and I was on the emergency context so I could go pick up the kids and bring them home.

[55] So I was like, you know, I won't be able to do that anymore.

[56] Like, remember thinking to myself, how can you guys afford this?

[57] Like I don't know what's going on, but that definitely occurred to me. And of course, my husband, I helped her move and helped her unpack because, you know, she'd be unpacking and be pale and have to sit down.

[58] But I remember her sitting in that living room tell me this is going to be my place to heal.

[59] This place is so beautiful.

[60] I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to heal here.

[61] I'm going to, I'm going to get better here.

[62] I'm going to kick this cancer's ass, you know.

[63] Like I said, it was beautiful, but I couldn't go there very often.

[64] I remember going there one time and I remember her being in bed and it was super dark and her not feeling good.

[65] And I remember the house not being kept up, smelling like dog urine.

[66] I did go a few times, but not like in the past.

[67] She didn't live there that long and she moved back to Orangeville.

[68] They rented a house in Orangeville.

[69] In this house, this move in Orangeville, they decided to get married.

[70] So that was a whole huge thing, right?

[71] Person's dying.

[72] You know, I want to get married before I die.

[73] And in this time period, her daughter's grandmother moved from the Bay Area to where we live in Northern California to help with the child and help Sylvia.

[74] And she was very helpful with the granddaughter.

[75] She put her in art therapy counseling, where they would go and do drawings and paintings and talk about her feelings.

[76] and she had a counselor that she talked to about, you know, her mom being sick and that kind of thing.

[77] And so when we decided to have the shower, the aunt that lived in town and the grandmother and I all threw a big shower.

[78] Bobo.

[79] I mean, we went, we all chipped in money.

[80] We all went all out.

[81] How long do you think you had known her at this point?

[82] Two years.

[83] Okay.

[84] Yeah, two years maybe.

[85] And you've been close friends for probably.

[86] at least a year?

[87] Over a year, yeah, for sure.

[88] Okay.

[89] There wasn't a whole lot of time in between the saying we're going to get married and getting married, and her biological father really wasn't in the picture.

[90] Like, he lives in a different state.

[91] Right before the wedding, as well, she said that she needed this implant that would, like, release chemo, but that our insurance wouldn't cover it.

[92] I can remember kind of being indignant, like, oh my gosh, your insurance won't cover this.

[93] It's what you need.

[94] It's what's going to help you, blah, blah, blah.

[95] She said that she reached out to her dad and he paid for her to get the implant before her wedding.

[96] I think there was probably like 30, 40 people there.

[97] So that's all of the hospital people and our spouses.

[98] So that was probably half of the wedding.

[99] I feel like any friends outside of us.

[100] Yeah.

[101] Then she was working for us but became very unreliable at this point.

[102] Like, she would call in sick a lot, or, you know, we'd have her on the schedule and she just wouldn't show up.

[103] Like, when she was there, it was great because she was really good at her job.

[104] But I can remember her totally shaking, hands shaking, and, like, having to, you know, shake it off and, like, trying to pull blood again.

[105] And her husband, no, he worked a lot of nights, late nights, where he was out on patrol.

[106] And then I can remember her telling me that she found out Jason was not a police officer that he was a community service officer and she was very mad about that and I was like well what does that mean I don't know what that means what is a community service officer She was like it's not really a police officer It's like a low -paying thing And I was like wow that's weird Things didn't make sense This is Kurt Stories that were told of who he was at first I mean, at one time he was a police officer's, and then we found out he was a security guard.

[107] I mean, we had an impression of him wasn't so good.

[108] I didn't cross past with him too much because when he was home, I wasn't there.

[109] So we would see each other in passing.

[110] He was always extremely pleasant to me. He was never rude.

[111] He was nothing that kind, and he was fine.

[112] It was lovely to me. I can remember a couple of times, are you taking her to this doctor's appointment, or am I taking her to this doctor's appointment?

[113] Texting wasn't very big back then.

[114] like that.

[115] You weren't on Facebook.

[116] No. You wouldn't have seen.

[117] Correct.

[118] Right.

[119] Right.

[120] No. And you never saw him in a uniform?

[121] No, I always saw him in a uniform.

[122] Yeah.

[123] And you thought it was a police uniform?

[124] Yeah.

[125] And to this day, I don't know if she was lying and he really was a police officer or if he was who knows.

[126] But do it look like he was a cop and a police officer?

[127] Yeah.

[128] And when he found out that she said that, he took later after everything was out in the open.

[129] I said, well, you were lying about being a he's like, no, I am a police officer.

[130] She struck him with her motor vehicle.

[131] She had been under the influence and she left him there.

[132] In January 2022, local woman Karen Reed was implicated in the mysterious death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O 'Keefe.

[133] 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.

[134] What happens next?

[135] Depends on who you ask.

[136] Was it a crime of passion?

[137] If you believe the prosecution, it's because the evidence.

[138] evidence was so compelling.

[139] This was clearly an intentional act.

[140] And his cause of death was blunt force trauma with hypothermia.

[141] Or a corrupt police cover -up.

[142] If you believe the defense theory, however, this was all a cover -up to prevent one of their own from going down.

[143] Everyone had an opinion.

[144] And after the 10 -week trial, the jury could not come to a unanimous decision.

[145] To end in a mistrial, it's just a confirmation of just how complicated this case is.

[146] Law and Crime presents the most in -depth analysis to date of the sensational case in Karen.

[147] You can listen to Karen exclusively with Wondry Plus.

[148] Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

[149] I'm Dan Tversky.

[150] In 2011, something strange began to happen at the high school in Leroy, New York.

[151] I was like at my locker and she came up to me and she was like stuttering super bad.

[152] I'm like, stop fucking around.

[153] She's like, I can't.

[154] A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms, and spreading fast.

[155] It's like doubling and tripling, and it's all these girls.

[156] With a diagnosis, the state tried to keep on the down low.

[157] Everybody thought I was holding something back.

[158] Well, you were holding something back intentionally.

[159] Yeah, well, yeah.

[160] No, it's hysteria.

[161] It's all in your head.

[162] It's not physical.

[163] Oh, my gosh, you're exaggerating.

[164] Is this the largest mass hysteria since the Witches of Salem?

[165] Or is it something else entirely?

[166] Something's wrong here.

[167] Something's not right.

[168] Leroy was the new date line and everyone was trying to solve the murder.

[169] A new limited series from Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios, Hysterical.

[170] Follow Hysterical on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[171] You can binge all episodes of Hysterical early and ad -free right now by joining Wondry Plus.

[172] So there's different levels of nursing.

[173] There's an RN, a registered nurse, there's an LVN, and then there's nurse practitioners.

[174] So an LVN is kind of the lower end.

[175] A RN is the next step up and then a nurse practitioner.

[176] So she was an LVN, although I believe that she told all of us that she was a registered nurse, which is an RN.

[177] I do not believe she was a registered nurse.

[178] I do not believe she finished the education process to that point, but she was nursing.

[179] She got a job at Folsom Prison.

[180] That pays extremely, extremely well.

[181] At this point, she's maybe working for us one day a week or she would just come in when she, It was kind of like that thing.

[182] Like, we love you.

[183] You just come in and work whenever you want.

[184] It's great when you're here, but we can't have you on the schedule.

[185] Again, she was pregnant.

[186] Again, she told me she lost the baby.

[187] I believe she was told me in the four years that she was pregnant at least four times.

[188] And I did personally drive her to get an abortion.

[189] And I did stay there through that.

[190] One of the only times I actually went inside someplace with her.

[191] And I remember her being upset and crying and holding her hand.

[192] And the nurse taking her away and then me talking to the nurse after she got wheeled away saying, you know, this is extremely hard, like, you know, she's a nurse, but she's battling cancer.

[193] And I remember the nurse looking at me really strangely.

[194] That was extremely difficult, you know, and that was not okay.

[195] That was not fun.

[196] That was not, it was a very emotional, difficult experience.

[197] And then there was one instance where she had gotten pregnant.

[198] and she was going to have an abortion.

[199] That's Jen.

[200] I took care of the kids.

[201] I took them to school, and she went off to her surgical appointment that day.

[202] And then she came back like normal.

[203] I had taken care of the kids and gotten them dinner, and she was laying on the couch resting, you know, like you would, after such a procedure.

[204] And she didn't have any pain medication.

[205] I was like, you know, let me all go pick up your medications from the pharmacy for you.

[206] So it can get you more comfortable.

[207] And she was like, oh, no. No, no, no, I don't need them.

[208] I'll go pick them up tomorrow.

[209] She did suspect that her husband was having an inappropriate relationship.

[210] They started becoming volatile and arguing.

[211] Next time.

[212] And I get a telephone call.

[213] It's Jason.

[214] He says, I'm at work.

[215] Sylvia called me. I think she took a bunch of pills.

[216] I need you go check on her.

[217] If you haven't purchased your ticket to Something Was Wrong Live Sacramento, you still have time.

[218] Get $4 off your ticket now with code SWW at something was wrong .com slash events.

[219] Something Was Wrong Live Sacramento will take place Saturday, August 24th, 2019 at the Sophia at B Street Theater in Midtown, Sacramento.

[220] Sarah, Alyssa, myself, and a panel of experts will discuss all things something was wrong and answer your burning questions.

[221] After the show, hang out so we can hug, not hug, take pictures with a gram, have a cocktail, whatevers.

[222] See you soon.

[223] Something Was Wrong is written, recorded, edited, and produced by me, Tiffany Reese.

[224] All of the music by Gladrags.

[225] Hear their album Wonder Under on iTunes.

[226] Follow the hashtag Something Was Wrong Pod on Instagram.

[227] You can now purchase something was wrong merch at www .spreadless .com.

[228] The books referenced on this show can be found linked in the show notes.

[229] If you or someone you know is being abused, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1 -800 -799 Safe.

[230] That's 1 -800 -799 -7233.

[231] Thank you.

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[233] and neighbor and garbage man and gynaecologist and record producer and ex -boyfriend.

[234] No, don't do that.

[235] Yeah, just like everyone you know.

[236] That would be cool.

[237] Thank you.

[238] Love you.

[239] 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.

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[243] Scammers are best known for living the high life until they're forced to trade it all in for handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit once they're finally caught.

[244] I'm Sachi Cole.

[245] And I'm Sarah Haggy.

[246] And we're the host of scam influencers, a weekly podcast from Wondery that takes you along the twists and turns of some of the most infamous scams of all time, the impact on victims and what's left once a facade falls away.

[247] We've covered stories like a Shark Tank certified entrepreneur who left the show with an investment, but soon faced mounting bills, an active lawsuit followed by Larry King, and no real product to push.

[248] He then began to prey on vulnerable women instead, selling the idea of a future together while stealing from them behind their backs.

[249] To the infamous scams of Real Housewives stars like Teresa Judice, what should have proven to be a major downfall only seemed to solidify her place in the Real Housewives Hall of Fame.

[250] Follow scam influencers on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[251] You can listen to Scamfluencers early and ad free right now on Wondry Plus.