Deserea Hopkins follow up

A few hours ago KLTV published an updated story, but just a few sentences in we get this;

On Dec. 24, we contacted the East Texas Military Family and Friends Support Network and told co-founder Anna Gonzales that we were looking to do a story that day with a veteran or military family. Gonzales gave Deserea Hopkins our reporter’s phone number. Hopkins called our reporter, and we interviewed her and her children for a story that aired in our 5 p.m. newscast on Christmas Eve.

I just find is strange that this is the first time that we are hearing about this East Texas Military Family and Friends Support Network in how Deserea Hopkins was chosen for their story.

So, how did this happen?

To find out, we contacted [Military Family and Friends Support Network co-founder Anna] Gonzales again. Gonzales said she personally helped Hopkins’ family by giving them gifts and food, and that she believed Hopkins’ story was credible.

“I had no reason to doubt [Hopkins’ story]” she said Tuesday. She said she did not ask Hopkins for a DD214.

Gonzales also said she believes this is the first time she and her organization have been scammed in 10 years of service.

Hopkins came to Gonzales as a direct referral from Kim Upton Goodwin, a Good Samaritan who wanted to help. Gonzales said this is the first and only time she has taken on a case brought to her by someone other than an established group. Normally, Gonzales said she finds people to help through veteran recognition groups, such as the Jaycees.

Yet more shifting of responsibilities. I have to wonder why they chose a different source for ensuring that a person’s claims where true. Also if they have been doing this for 10 years, why did they not pick up on the red flags that were spotted within hours of the story going live. But let’s finish this shifting blame and responsibilities with a statement from Deserea Hopkins herself.

Friday night, she said she could not find the document and she would check a safety deposit box or get another copy from the VA if she could not find it. On Monday, we spoke with her again, and she said she was at work. That’s when we requested the official document from the U.S. Army.

On Monday afternoon, however, Hopkins chose to stop communicating with us. A final text message says, “I’m done. There’s nothing I can do to prove to the world I am not a liar & I don’t even want to argue anymore. No matter what I’ll never have my life back.”

But the problem is that there is enough here to say that you are a liar.

Deserea Hopkins’s FOIA

Deserea swindled 500 dollars from a man who intended it to be a gift to a legit military service member.

Unfortunately, this year I got scammed. I received Deserea’s name through a military friends and family support network. She had four kids, was a single mother that worked hard, and was a veteran that had been deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. I told all of you about her and her kids. I felt so awesome to know that I had helped someone who had fought for our country. She even told me “it’s people like you that are the reason I fought for this country, and I’d do it again!”

Unfortunately, that was all a lie. She didn’t fight for our country. She was never deployed and she didn’t even finish basic training. She scammed me. She scammed others. She flat out lied to me, to KLTV in Tyler, and to many others. I wasted $500 on a liar and con artist, and I’m so sorry. We have always been so careful with our selections, but since this came from a veterans association, I really didn’t think there was any way it could be fake. But it was.

This is the reason why stolen valor is more then just people playing pretend and dress up.

We appreciate the hundreds of people across the country who recognized the apparent discrepancies in the story Hopkins told to us, as well as to local veterans assistance groups. We regret that our efforts to recognize the sacrifice made by our military men and women turned into a story that mislead and angered those it was meant to honor.

That sentiment is appreciated, but it would be more appreciated if folks owned up to their mistakes rather than shifted to someone else; “Many will seek credit for success, few will accept responsibility for failure”.

UPDATE: Dec 30th 2015

It is currently being debated on what charges, if any should be brought against Deserea Hopkins.

Category: Phony soldiers, Valor Vultures