In November 2012, a thirty-seven-year-old single mother vanishes from
Omaha, Nebraska. Cari was known to others as a doting daughter, a
devoted mother, a thoughtful friend, and a reliable employee. She has
never been the type to abandon her duties and obligations. She would
never abandon her son or her dying father as he is taking his last
breath. However, the texts from her phone indicated a different story.
In
a span of over thousands of text messages and emails, Cari dumps her
new boyfriend, quits her promising career, plans to leave her familial
home, sell all of her belongings, and give up custody of her son. Her
boyfriend, Dave Kroupa, and her manager believe that this behavior is
odd for Cari but, still
believe and accept her texts at face value. Her mother, Nancy Raney,
believes that this isn't the behavior of her daughter. She is certain
that her daughter is in danger and reports her missing. The police are
skeptical of her claim of someone posing to be her daughter.
Nancy
and a handful of Cari's friends are afraid of what happened to Cari.
However, Dave is certain that Cari is stalking him and grows fearful of
her. He has never seen or heard Cari but, the stalker always remains one
step ahead of him. His stalker also seems to be obsessed with his
girlfriend, Shanna Liz Golyar. The stalker uses every opportunity
available to be verbally abusive towards Liz and even threatens her.
In
three years, the stalker sends over twelve thousand emails and texts to
their victims. The stalker communicates with Cari's mother, Nancy along
with stalking Dave and Liz endlessly. Dave and Liz receive
threats of death, vandalism, and burglaries. While the stalker might
have sent the messages in Cari's name, the identity of the real stalker
is tangled behind webs of deceit and lies.
I wasn't
familiar with the case and this was my first "real crime" novel.
However, I must say, I am hooked. I didn't read the description of the
novel so, finding out how the real culprit was a mystery to me. After a
few chapters into the book, I had a feeling of the mastermind was. I was
quite surprised that they were able to pull off such a ruse given how
Dave describes her. The author wove an enticing read and I love getting
the background behind each of the characters. A true gem for a true crime fanatic!
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