Law enforcement has opened an investigation into the organizer of a fake GoFundMe campaign that claimed to be for one of three Concord-Carlisle High School killed in a crash in Florida last week.
The campaign purported to be raising funds for senior Hannah Wasserman, who died alongside fellow seniors Jimmy McIntosh and Maisey O’Donnell in a crash on April 21, according to Superintendent Laurie Hunter.
Wasserman and McIntosh died at the scene, and O’Donnell later died at the hospital. A fourth student was in critical condition after the crash.
A GoFundMe claiming to be raising funds for Wasserman’s family that circulated last week was pulled from the website by GoFundMe’s Trust and Safety team. Before it was taken down, the campaign raised about $8,000 in donations, according to WBZ News.
The Concord Police Department has opened an investigation into the fraudulent fundraiser as of Monday morning, according to Chief Tom Mulcahy.
GoFundMe stated all of the raised funds were “safely held by our payment processors during our review process.” After the organizers did not respond to its Trust & Safety Team, GoFundMe refunded the donors and took down the fundraiser.
“At GoFundMe, being a safe and trusted place to give and receive help is our top priority and we are continuing to monitor the platform for any fundraisers related to this incident,” a statement from a GoFundMe spokesperson read.
The fatal crash happened just before 9:30 p.m. on April 21, near Panama City Beach in Florida on Route 98.
The four Concord-Carlisle seniors were in an SUV driving west when they were struck by a tractor-trailer trying to make a U-turn in a paved median, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report obtained by MassLive.
The force of the impact pushed the SUV across the median and onto the eastbound side of the highway, before it came to a stop along the woodline, police said.
McIntosh and Wasserman were pronounced dead at the scene, while O’Donnell and the fourth teen were hospitalized at Bay Medical Center. Superintendent Hunter did not immediately respond for comment on the fourth student’s condition on Monday.
