HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A Florida woman has been charged after records say she created donation pages pretending to be for the family of a 2025 Texas flood victim.
Texas flooding: Woman accused of fake victim donation pages
What we know:
Harris County court records confirm 28-year-old Maitlin White of Crestview, Florida, has been charged with two counts of Online Impersonation.
According to a detective, White made a GoFundMe page and a SpotFund page pretending to be the father of Chloe Childress, a Houston 19-year-old who died in Kerr County, Texas, while serving as a counselor at Camp Mystic.
Records say Childress’ father alerted authorities about a fake GoFundMe campaign that was using his name, Chloe’s picture, and a bio of their tragedy. The page was allegedly asking the public for donations to support Chloe’s family.
The detective later learned about a SpotFund campaign that was also using Chloe and her father’s names, according to court documents.
The detective requested records from both platforms, which allegedly listed Maitlin White as the creator for both campaigns. Both pages were reportedly created on July 8, less than a week after the floods took place in Central Texas.
Court documents say the SpotFund campaign was linked to White’s Chime checking account.
The detective found White’s phone number and allegedly recorded a phone call with her.
According to documents, White admitted to making the fake campaigns using Chloe’s likeness and her father’s name. She allegedly told the detective that she is a single mother with young children and “was looking for a quick way to make some money.”
What we don’t know:
Records do not show how much money was donated to the two campaigns.
The Source: Information in this report comes from Harris County District Clerk records.
