A mother of two claimed she was dying of cancer, leading friends and family to raise thousands for her medical care and even pay for her wedding. But it was all a lie. INSIDE EDITION has the story of how her own sister turned her in.
When Lori Stilley, a mother of two from Delran, New Jersey, told family and friends she had Stage IV bladder cancer, her sister Lisa was totally devastated.
Lisa told INSIDE EDITION's Les Trent, “She has this cancer that is rampant, spreading through her body, and there was nothing I could do to help.”
Lisa showed Trent the t-shirt she printed up to raise money for her sister's cancer treatment. She also helped organize a fundraiser where Lori showed up in a wheelchair saying she had only days to live.
“It was amazing what people did for her,” said Lisa.
What Lori said she wanted most of all was to marry her boyfriend before she died. So her family paid thousands more for a storybook wedding at a beautiful estate in Moorestown, New Jersey, where Joan Brown is event coordinator.
Trent asked Brown, “Did she tell you how long she had to live?”
Brown said, “She said it could be a matter of days.”
In fact, months passed by and Lisa began to wonder why Lori never looked sick.
She was the picture of health six months after the wedding at her 40th birthday party her family threw for her. Lori toasted herself, beaming like she didn't have a care in the world. She actually got up and danced.
The final straw came when Lisa’s 14-year-old daughter, Brooke, dedicated a field hockey game to her dying Aunt Lori, who said she'd be entering a hospice the very next day. But Lori never checked in.
Lisa said it finally dawned on her that her sister was scamming everyone, the cancer was all a lie.
Soon afterward, Lisa made the painful decision to call police.
Trent said, “You turned in your own sister.”
“I had to,” said Lori.
Trent asked Brooke, “When you found out this was all apparently fake, what was your reaction?”
Brooke said, “I was really shocked and cried for a while, but then I was really mad. How could you do this to us?”
Now, Lori is charged with theft by deception.
Lisa said, “It's just so hurtful that she just took advantage of everybody."
INSIDE EDITION caught up with Lori outside her home in Delran, New Jersey, but she wouldn't talk with us. Her lawyer says there's no proof she did anything wrong.
Trent asked, “Do you have an apology to your family or the people who gave money to you?”
Lori said, “You have to talk to my lawyer,” as she slammed the door on Trent.
