Thus was the story told to parents and journalists by a self-professed family friend of the sick nine year old. The problem, there is no such person as Alexander Jordan. Alex was the creation of 22 year-old Briana Augustenborg. The motive behind her cruel prank is baffling authorities, parents, school officials, and players on the Eagle Valley High School football team.
The players signed a football for Alex, sent him a jersey and a sweatshirt; they stenciled his name onto the football field, the pasted the letter “A” on their helmets… Alex was a source of inspiration for the team and the entire community.
Several times Alex was scheduled to meet with the team but a medical emergency would always cause the meeting to be canceled at the last minute. Parents and coaches now say that they should have looked deeper into the issue before hand as no one had ever met or spoken to Alex or his parents… only Ms. Augustenborg.
On October 25, Ms. Augusteborg informed Alex’s Facebook followers that he had finally lost his battle with cancer. The team and the community were devastated by the death of Alex. However when parents looked for a death certificate they began to unravel the details of Ms. Augustenborg’s deception.
Authorities are unlikely to press charges as Ms. Augustenborg never tried to raise money and never asked for any money… so what was her motive… who knows? Authorities argue she may have some sort of personality disorder or other deeply rooted psychological issues which drove her to create Alex in an attempt to gain attention for herself…
In any event, it is a lesson to be careful of “causes” which seem a bit suspect… if it seems shady, it probably is…
Thoughts?