The San Roman family made hoax history when it was exposed as fake in July 2012. The person behind the fake Facebook accounts and the family's blog about three children battling cancer was 28-year-old Cindy Choi, of Miami, Fla.
Choi, owner of the Doral restaurant chain in Miami, wrote about Kevin, Lucas, and little cousin Katy San Roman in the blog and often posed as one of the San Roman brothers, according to the Miami Herald. She had several online relationships with teenage girls who believed she was either Kevin or Lucas San Roman.
The blog, titled “Kevin and Katy’s Cancer Journey,” goes back as far as 2009. It gave vivid details of the San Roman children’s medical records and treatment.
To hundreds of Facebook friends, the San Roman brothers were two South Miami boys with cancer. They had several online girlfriends who texted the boys, talked over the phone, and planned to meet in person.
The San Roman brothers’ plans, however, kept falling through. After Kevin’s cancer entered remission in mid-2011, he claimed he had to return to Spain because of a visa mix-up. Kevin was expected to return in June, but he died of “cancer-related complications” two days before his supposed flight.
One of Kevin San Roman’s Facebook friends, Kaitlin Masters, befriended Lucas after sending him condolences. Ms. Masters, a high school senior at the time, consoled him while he claimed to be in Tennessee for his cousin’s treatment and when “little Katy” died, the Herald reported. They also video chatted, but Lucas San Roman claimed his webcam was broken.
Masters’ family pressured Lucas about using a different video chatting program. The next day, a young woman who claimed to be Kevin San Roman’s girlfriend called Kaitlin and told her that Lucas had suffered a seizure in Spain. It was then that they learned that Lucas and Kevin had the same phone number.
Masters got Miami-Dade prosecutors involved, who traced the San Roman family back to Ms. Choi.
Choi told Masters she created the San Roman story because she was confused about her sexual identity and that she was trying to help some of the girls she encountered, as some had relatives with cancer, the Herald reported.
