HORIZON CITY, TX - In just a few months, Angie Gomez,18, went from being an inspiration, worthy of public praise, to becoming public enemy number one to those who knew her.
"Knowing that you're going to die, and then in the end, you're not? I can't believe that someone could come up with that," Kathryn Lopez, a classmate of Gomez said.
The Horizon Police Department said Angie Gomez came up with an elaborate story centered around her supposed life-long battle with Leukemia, a disease she never had.
Claiming to want to help other kids with cancer, Gomez started the now-infamous "Achieve the Dream" Foundation.
Over the course of several months, police say the charity brought in about $17,000.
Nicole Matsuda lived with Angie Gomez and helped her start the foundation.
She said that as time went on, Angie wasn't showing signs of a girl on the verge of death.
"The longer the charade went on, there were some things that i began to question," Matsuda said.
Worried that her name was attached to a potentially fraudulent charity, Matsuda called police after discover none of Angie's medication were for treating cancer.
"When (police) landed on the side of (fraudulent), we were devastated because we're as much, if not more of a victim than anybody else," Matsuda said. "Because the closer you were to her, the more betrayed you were."
Angie Gomez was charged with Theft by Deception.
However, Gomez has not yet been arrested because police have said that they don't view Gomez as a risk to skip town while she awaits the District Attorney's decision on a possible indictment.
In a brief phone interview, Angie Gomez expressed remorse after admitting she never had Leukemia.
Despite previous statements to the contrary, Angie said that this whole situation is just "a rumor that spun out of control."
She said that she feels horrible about what's happened and directed all other questions to her attorney.
Despite the deep betrayal, Matsuda believes Angie Gomez actually had good intentions because none of the donation money was ever spent on expenses not related to the charity.
"I really don't think it was about the money because all the money had been accounted for," Matsuda said. "I think she really did legitimately want to help kids with cancer. She just felt like she had to lie to do that."
I wondered the same thing regarding Angie's parents. They had to know their daughter did not have leukemia. I do not believe Ms. Matsuda was part of the fraud and agree with her statement that her family was victimized by Angie as well. Ms. Matsuda seems to really care for Angie.
I want to know if Nicole Matsuda has been charged or has had an agreement of some sort to not have charges filed against her. In addition, where were Angie's parents at the time? Wouldn't they have known what their daughter was doing or is it possible her parents had a part of it?