A woman with a history of crazy and insane scams is suspected of creating a fake and nonexistent firefighter husband to get at least $11,000 in donations.
Ashley Bemis, 28, claimed that with the money she would help firefighters during the recent Orange County Holy Fire.
She went so far as to collect food, clothing, and blankets as well.
Bemis' scheme was eventually uncovered after victims started to complain on Facebook.
Sheriff's Department detectives were tipped that Bemis posted on her Facebook page and a belonging Facebook group that she was married to a Cal Fire firefighter named Shane Goodman.
In her post she said she was also collecting donations because her husband and crew were not getting the supplies they needed.
Some of the supplies she was requesting were air mattresses, socks, T-shirts, underwear, bottled water, baby wipes, ear plugs and candy. She even posted addresses addresses of four drop-off locations!
She had this whole thing planned out!
Detectives used a national database to discover that there wasn't a firefighter by the name of Shane Goodman. And, on top of that, Bemis isn't even married nor have any children!
Furthermore, Cal Fire does NOT seek donations from the public.
"All firefighters are taken care of 100%," said Lucas Spelman, a battalion chief with the agency.
At one point, Bemis took a few of the donated items to a command post in Irvine to appear legitimate, but she kept most of the items in her garage for safe keeping.
Detectives interviewed those who had familiarized themselves with Bemis.
In those interviews, they found details of her past deceptions including a fake pregnancy. She faked a pregnancy in order to receive free gifts so they could be sold for profit.
Going back to 2011, another woman hired Bemis as a nanny to take care of her son.
Then, the woman began to see photos of her son dressed as a girl on Bemis' Facebook page!
Bemis was claiming the picture was a picture of her daughter!
Anybody who donated items or cash to Bemis is asked to stop by the San Clemente Police Services Station, 100 Avenue Presidio, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday.