Woman Charged with Taking Funds Donated to Laclede County, MO, Fire Victims

A family accepted a gesture for help after losing their home in a fire and allowed someone to set up a GoFundMe on their behalf, Missouri officials said.

But, the family received just a small percentage of the $9,460 raised, according to Laclede County court documents. Now, Stephanie Taylor, the woman accused of stealing from the GoFundMe, is charged.

McClatchy News reached out to GoFundMe but did not immediately receive a response.

Taylor was charged with stealing without consent, according to a criminal complaint filed on April 8. Her attorney information was not listed.

Shortly after volunteer firefighters responded to the Lebanon house fire on Dec. 7, a fire victim received a Facebook message from someone saying they were a volunteer firefighter, deputies said. The firefighter offered to set up a GoFundMe on the family’s behalf with permission, the probable cause statement said.

“We thought he worked for the fire department. So it sounded like a good deal. We were mistaken,” Shelby Snider told KY3.

While the woman told deputies she found this odd, she accepted the help. She then received a Facebook message from Taylor, the firefighter’s fiancee, stating she had set up the fundraiser titled “Aid for Family After Tragedy,” according to the probable cause.

The campaign description read, ““Hello! My name is Stephanie and with permission this is a go fund me for his family who lost everything in a fire on 12/07/2024 between the hours of 3am and 7am! I am the fiance of one of the first firefighters on the scene! They have 5 kiddos and have lost everything including their children’s entire christmas! Let’s help get this family back on track and help give them a Christmas miracle!!!” the probable cause statement said.

After fees, the GoFundMe raised $9,152.90 for the family, court documents said. By Dec. 22, Taylor had drained the account, but she only sent two payments totaling $1,900 to the family, deputies said.

She told Snider that the account was locked and she couldn’t access the money, according to the probable cause and KY3.

The family received a $1,500 CashApp from Taylor on Dec. 10 and another $400 payment on Jan. 2, according to deputies. Following the January payment, Taylor told the family they would receive $400 weekly payments of the money, but she never followed through, the probable cause statement said.

When one of the fire victims reached out asking about the missing money, she would give varying excuses and occasionally ignore the messages, according to court documents.

She eventually stopped responding to the family member she was in contact with and blocked them on Facebook where they communicated, deputies said.

“I also feel like the people in our community were taken advantage of as well. Some of these people would message me saying ‘I gave you my last $20.’ That’s not fair to them,” Snider told KY3.

Taylor was arrested on April 8 and was held on a $5,000 bond, according to court records. She pleaded not guilty.

A bond review hearing is scheduled for April 14.

Lebanon is about a 165-mile drive southwest from St. Louis.

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