HOAX: Woman (NOT) viciously attacked with acid by stranger

[Janice]

(Sept. 3) -- A Vancouver, Wash., woman attacked with acid on her way to a Starbucks coffee shop says she could feel her face sizzling as her skin began to burn.

"It was the most painful thing," 28-year-old Bethany Storro told reporters. "My heart stopped. I almost passed out. Once it hit me, I could actually hear it bubbling and sizzling on my skin."

Storro was getting something out of her car outside a Starbucks on Aug. 30 when she saw a woman, around her own age, standing before her and heard the chilling words that would change her life: "Hey, pretty little girl, want to take a drink of this?"

Then, inexplicably, the woman threw a cup of acid-like liquid in Storro's face, sending her screaming out in pain in the middle of the busy street. Passers-by rushed to her aid and called 911.

Storro had just moved to Vancouver, just north of Portland, Ore., to be with her parents after living in Idaho. She said she had never seen her attacker before that day. Police say the bizarre and horrific acid assault -- far more common in other areas of the world -- appears to be random. There are so far no suspects, and the motive remains unclear.

The acid was so strong that parts of Storro's shirt simply disintegrated, The Oregonian reported. Doctors said Storro suffered second-degree burns all over her face -- except, fortunately, on her eyes, which were protected by a pair of sunglasses she bought less than an hour before the attack. Doctors said the glasses may have saved her eyesight.

"I had this feeling that I need to go buy sunglasses," she said, according to KPTV in Oregon. "It's hard finding sunglasses that are cute. I finally found a pair that I liked, so I went and bought them. That was 20 minutes before the acid was thrown in my face."

But the excruciating pain didn't stop Storro -- who is hard of hearing because of two bouts of spinal meningitis she suffered as a child -- from joking around Thursday night in front of family members and reporters.

"Oh, my gosh, to be hard of hearing and blind? That would drive them nuts," she said of her parents. "They have to be in the same room for me to hear them. I'm just so glad it's a miracle."

Her father, Joe Neuwelt, was less jovial. "You can imagine how I feel," he said. "This is my little girl." Her mother, Nancy Neuwelt, called the attack "an act of evil," according to The Associated Press.

[robyrob]

they need to find this psychopath ASAP - truly scary

[OH Nuts!]

Originally Posted by robyrob

they need to find this psychopath ASAP - truly scary

Absolutely. This story is truly horrifying. When I first read it, it left me with a sick feeling in my stomach. That poor girl.

[MickeyMac]

This is beyond cruel to do to another human being.


The person that did this should get the death penalty.

[catlover79]

How awful. I feel so sorry for this poor lady. God bless her. I hope the guy that did this rots in jail for a LONG time.

[Retro4Life]

Originally Posted by catlover79

How awful. I feel so sorry for this poor lady. God bless her. I hope the guy that did this rots in jail for a LONG time.

Agreed, though it was a lady. (Funny and disturbing how I instantly pictured a man doing this before I learned it wasn't.)

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

Agreed, though it was a lady. (Funny and disturbing how I instantly pictured a man doing this before I learned it wasn't.)

Woman, man, monster, animal...you get my drift. That sounds like the beginning of Ben Casey, doesn't it?

[Retro4Life]

Originally Posted by catlover79

Woman, man, monster, animal...you get my drift. That sounds like the beginning of Ben Casey, doesn't it?

Lol. Yeah, hope it didn't come off like I was being "nitpicky"...just kinda commenting on how we view violent crimes like that.

I cannot imagine what goes through the head of a person like that. And I guess I'm glad I can't.

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

Lol. Yeah, hope it didn't come off like I was being "nitpicky"...just kinda commenting on how we view violent crimes like that.

I cannot imagine what goes through the head of a person like that. And I guess I'm glad I can't.

No offense taken!!

[dakert]

Please stop with the disgusting thread titles--as mentioned by a moderator whose name begins with a J

[kev411]

That's just Sick.

[JamesG]

Rumors of Hoax Surround Acid Attack Victim
Sept. 14, 2010
AP



Sept. 14) -- Police are aware of growing media speculation that a Washington state woman who says a stranger doused her face with acid may have staged the attack herself, but they say their investigation is still open.


"Certainly, we are aware [of the controversy]," Vancouver, Wash., police spokeswoman Kim Kapp told AOL News. "What I can say is we are following up on all tips and all leads, all information that comes in to the lead detective. ... The investigation is still very much in an information-gathering stage."










Bethany Storro, 28, said an unknown woman approached her outside a Starbucks on Aug. 30 and said, "Hey, pretty little girl, want to take a drink of this?" The woman then allegedly threw a cup of acid-like liquid in Storro's face, resulting in second-degree burns all over her face.


Doctors say a pair of sunglasses Storro bought less than an hour before the attack saved her vision. Since the attack, Storro has helped police put together a composite drawing of her alleged attacker, whom she describes as an African-American woman in her late 20s or early 30s, with her hair pulled back into a ponytail.


No suspects have been named, and no arrests have been made.









The case has since garnered nationwide media attention, but some of that attention started to turn negative last week, when several media outlets began to question Storro's version of the events. The Columbian newspaper focused on some of those reports in an article published last week.

"With no suspect identified 10 days after Bethany Storro was found injured by acid burns to her face, speculation by some is raising this question," reporters Bob Albrecht and John Branton wrote.

The journalists said they had spoken with Vancouver Police Department Detective Sgt. Scott Creager, who told them he could not discuss the case. "The reasons will become clear later, he said," they wrote.










Speculation in the blogosphere and the media heightened on Sept. 10, one day after the report in The Columbian, when Storro allegedly posted a message on her now-defunct Facebook page saying she had decided not to appear on "The Oprah Winfrey Show".

Storro had previously agreed to go on the show and was scheduled to appear in an episode to air Thursday.


"I was going to be on Oprah, but [that's] not going to happen," reads the Facebook post attributed to Storro. "From the very beginning, I wanted to inspire people (hope I have) and tell them about Jesus. The show was going to possibly turn into another direction, so my family and I decided not to go on."

A spokeswoman for Winfrey's show confirmed the cancellation to ABCNews.com but did not provide a reason for it.











The Vancouver Voice is also expressing doubts about the alleged attack.

Reporter Marcus Griffith claims to have spoken with several witnesses who allegedly said Storro was alone outside the Starbucks when she dropped to the ground. The witnesses did not see anyone attack Storro or flee the scene, Griffith said.




Griffith also questioned several details of the alleged attack.

"There are a few details of the incident that puzzle me," Griffith wrote.

"First, how clearly could ... Storro [have] heard her attacker ... if she is partially deaf? ...

Second, if the attack occurred ... a few minutes before sunset ... how clearly could Storro have seen her assailant while wearing the now famous sunglasses?

Third, isn't it a lottery-winner coincidence that Storro bought a pair of sunglasses just in time to protect her eyes from the acid, especially since she stated to the media she doesn't wear sunglasses?"







Storro has not spoken with the media about the speculation that she fabricated the attack, but she purportedly posted the following message to her Facebook wall about it on Sept. 10:

"We are not going to comment on the recent article or statements made," the post read. "And dear friends, you don't have to defend me. It's ok. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Read Psalm 23. I want to bring joy, faith, and hope. That's it!"






Storro's former mother-in-law, Pamela Storro, defended her in an interview with ABCNews.com.


"There is no way ever that she would do anything like this," Pamela Storro said, adding that the allegations are "as hideous as the crime itself."







Meanwhile, Vancouver Police Detective Wally Stefan, the lead investigator on the case, won't speculate on whether Storro may have inflicted the injuries herself. Stefan said that he has to rely on factual information and that the investigation is ongoing.



"We don't have a stance on it," Stefan told AOL News. "The investigation will go forth, and wherever the facts take us, that is where we will go. What people say, or opinions or speculation or innuendos, don't affect a police investigation."

http://www.aolnews.com/crime/article...c3_lnk1|170647

[JamesG]

Woman admits acid attack was self-inflicted

Vancouver, Wash., police say discrepancies led to story's unraveling

Sept. 16, 2010
MSNBC Staff



VANCOUVER, Wash — A woman who claimed she was the victim of an acid attack has admitted her injuries were self-inflicted, Vancouver, Wash., police said Thursday afternoon.



Police Chief Clifford Cook said at an afternoon news conference that Bethany Storro, 28, told detectives the truth during an interview after discrepancies emerged in her story.

Her interview was conducted after a search of her home, which she shares with her parents, police said. Interviews with her family are continuing, they said.





Police will turn over their findings to prosecutors who will decide if charges will be filed against Storro, 28.

They said they were not ready to discuss Storro's motivations. Storro is remorseful and in a "fragile mental state," police said.










Splash patterns and other parts of the story, like wearing sunglasses at night, led to the unraveling of Storro's story, Cook said.

"All things that didn't add up to the circumstance," Cook said.

The revelation followed the cancellation of Storro's scheduled Thursday appearance on "Oprah".






Storro originally claimed a black woman with a ponytail threw acid in her face at night on Aug. 30 as she was celebrating a new job and had just bought a pair of sunglasses.

Police said it was important to get the word of Storro's confession out immediately to assure the public knew that the Esther Park area of downtown Vancouver, scene of the alleged attack, was safe.








Just a week ago, NBC affiliate KGW TV of Portland, Ore., reported that a remarkably upbeat and candid Storro sat in front of reporters at Legacy Emanuel Hospital and described how a woman threw acid on her face.

She claimed her attacker said "Hey pretty girl, do you want to drink this?" before splashing the acid that burned her face.




Storro said she held the news conference then to draw attention to efforts to find the attacker, but also to talk about her faith.

"I'm here today because of Jesus Christ," she said at the time, adding that the strength of her faith would allow her to move forward.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39221785...me_and_courts/

[Rezny@gmail.com]

But what about the OTHER woman who had a similar acid attack ?And survived?Was she in cahoots with the first woman who faked her attack?

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by rrezny@usnetizen

But what about the OTHER woman who had a similar acid attack ?And survived?Was she in cahoots with the first woman who faked her attack?

That I do not know


I don't know what the term for it is but it sounds like this woman has that thing where people harm themselves/others in order to be the center of attention.

Especially when at first her only answer to her doubters were these martyr-like and religious nonsense posts on Facebook with the "Praise Jesus, the Lord is my Shepherd... I want to inspire people".