There are a variety of reasons for people to get together in person after meeting on the Internet. Some meet for business, others meet for friendship and still others meet for romance. The warnings about these types of meetings have been made all too clear; however, even with the steady rise in crimes perpetrated against someone that an offender met online, few people seem to be taking the warnings seriously. While the majority of people online may be there simply to chat and make friends, thousands of online predators are also there looking for victims. Some seek money and sex, while others have more fiendish plans, such as the case in the story you are about to read.
In July 2007, police in Blue Springs, Mo., arrested 19-year-old Lauren M. Gash and her friend, 17-year-old Alisa D. Betts, after they had abducted and attempted to cut a baby from the womb of a young woman they had met through the popular social networking Web site MySpace.com.
According to police, in the days leading up to the incident, Gash had been exchanging messages on MySpace with 18-year-old Amanda Howard of Clinton, Mo. Through their conversations, Gash learned Amanda was pregnant and due to give birth soon. Gash, desperate to have a child of her own, set up a meeting with Amanda under the premise of giving her baby clothes and agreed to meet Amanda at a gas station near Highway 7.
Gash was not lying about having baby clothes; for months she had been telling her family she was pregnant and due in July. However, unbeknownst to Amanda, Gash had no intention of parting with the clothes.
On July 30, 2007, Gash and Betts rented a hotel room in Blue Springs, drove to the gas station meeting point and picked up Amanda, telling her that they were going to get the baby clothes. While they were driving, Amanda heard one of women say, "How are we going to do this?" Concerned, Amanda reached for her cell phone, but before she could dial a number Gash spun around and sprayed her with Mace. Gash then told Amanda that if she did as she was told, she would not be harmed.
After arriving at the hotel, Gash and Betts allegedly led Amanda into their room. Gash gagged Amanda with a washcloth to keep her from crying out for help. She then bound her arms and forced her onto the bed. Gash then got on top of her and began jerking her neck back and forth in an attempt to snap it.
As Gash struggled with Amanda, Betts became frightened and left the room. She then placed an anonymous call to 9-1-1 and told police that a woman in Room 1105 of the motel was in labor and screaming.
When police arrived at the hotel room, they knocked on the door and waited patiently until Gash opened it. When questioned about what was going on, Gash said that her friend was having labor pains. However, when one of the officers looked into the room, he noticed Amanda was bound and gagged. When he asked Amanda what was going on, she choked back her tears and did her best to explain the situation. Police then took Gash and Betts into custody.
During a subsequent search of the room, police found rope, a roll of duct tape, scissors, a dropcloth, a bottle of insulin, a syringe and forged copies of a birth certificate for a "Johnny Gash."
As investigators bagged the evidence, Gash's father and sister arrived at the hotel. They told police that Gash had contacted them and told them that she had given birth to a baby, whom she had named Johnny.
A look at Gash's online life reveals a woman who seemed to have been obsessed with both pregnancy and finding a soul mate. In a November 16, 2005, post to Soulcysters.net she wrote:
