Recap. A few months ago, I was sent a video by one of my Facebook friends. A makeup expert from Las Vegas, Kandee Johnson, was contacted by a girl named Kristie Tunick; apparently Tunick had a rare and fatal disease, and only was expected to live maybe three more weeks. Johnson created a video and spread the word about Tunick’s condition, in the hopes that there might be a doctor or a physician or a specialist who may have a cure for Tunick.
This was the original video clip.
Apparently a lot of people – including me – got duped. We posted the video and we offered our support.
A few weeks later, some people did their own investigation about Tunick’s situation – and they came to the conclusion that Tunick was not sick, and that she may in fact be a cyber-beggar, concocting an illness in the hopes that sympathetic souls would send her money.
With this being my final post on the Tunick situation, I thought it was appropriate to share an updated video from Ms. Johnson. This video features Johnson’s observations on what happened – how she was contacted by Kristie Tunick, why she made the videotape, etc., etc.
It’s embedded here.
I’m sharing this video because I too believed that by spreading the word about Tunick’s illness, that someone who may have knowledge of what’s ailing Tunick could help her. Now I’m sharing this video in the hopes that others might understand how easy it is to be taken in by what was essentially a sob story.
I don’t blame Kandee Johnson for any of this (and in fact, Kandee, congratulations on the birth of your new baby). Kandee believed Kristie Tunick was genuine. We all did. And we were duped.
And sadly, the next time someone says to me, “Chuck, please post this information in your blog about this person I read about, who has only a short time to live and is looking for a cure” –
The next time someone says that to me, I’m immediately going to think of Kristie Tunick. And my skepticism ratio will perk up.
And that should have never been the case.
Chuck The Writer 
Dear Chuck,
I just read your story about Kristie and Kandee’s story about why she dropped her as a friend. I want to tell you that I have known Kristie for over 20 years, when she and my daughter were on the spirit squad at their high school. I was their spirit advisor and got to know all the girls quite well. I learned about Kristie’s situation about 2 years ago. She truly has been very, very ill. I have spoken with a young lady who was her best friend (and also on the spirit squad) in college and through high school. She knows Kristie well too. Well, I can tell you that the big mistake here is that a group of uninformed and mean people got onto Kristie’s Carepages website and then formed what was called a “Hate group”. They made up a story about Brian and Kristie, and how it was all a scam. They passed the story around about Brian and then made up an equally nasty story about Kristie. Over the months this story was polished and distorted and continued on Kristie’s very own Carepages.
Do you know what Carepages is? Kristie had no less than 1000+ people who supported Brian and Kristie. During that time Brian and Kristie moved from Henderson, Nevada to Cleveland (Mayo Clinic) and to three other places with large well-known teaching hospitals, attempting to find a pcp and a neuromuscular doctor who would give her an accurate diagnosis. By that time, Kristie was completely debilitated. On the west coast she had gone to UCLA and they diagnosed her with sps-stiff person disease. One of the terrible side effects of sps is that it is an autoimmune disease and it can wreak havoc with your whole immune system. It is not fatal but can render you completely unable to function. By the time they reached Johns Hopkins in Bethesda,Md., no one would take her case because it was “too complicated”. Not even NIH would take her on a research study. Not only did a neurologist need to take her as a patient, but she needed about 10 different specialists to treat the rest of her. There was one more place they wanted to try, at Northwestern University. They were somehow able to get to Chicago and Kristie went about (on the phone) trying to find refills for her medication. That was 2 weeks ago. Her medication was to run out on Monday and she would not be able to survive without it. I spoke to her on Sunday. Over the next two days I tried to figure out what they could do. I tried to reach her over that first week but was not able to. And now it has been 2 weeks. I have no updates at this time. I will keep trying.
About Kandee Johnson: We all knew that Kandee was going to try to publish Kristie’s story. At that time it was thought that by exposing her story to the media, someone could jump in and help. She really was excited about what Kandee could do and pinned all her hopes on her. Well, I read Kandee’s article and saw her video, but by then she had been sucked into the “Hate Group’s” opinions and not verified the facts and had done a complete 180 on Kristie.
What I am having so much trouble with is:
1) what would possess a group like that try to hurt someone’s life like that? They were young, maybe late high school or college, but certainly old enough to know what lying about someone in that way could do. Why would a young, beautifull young lady like Kristie perpetrate a scam like that? In school she ran with the “best” kids, one of whom was Pat Tillman and they still mourn for him. She had incredible talent as a dancer and because of that and the fact that she is gorgeous and nice and it all put her just a notch above many.
2) This took away Kristie’s hope – the FBI told her to shut Facebook down, close Carepages, drop Facebook and her Causes and stick with the internet.
3) Why in the world did Kandee do such an about-face. Did she really believe what the “Haters” were saying and not even bother to check her facts?
4) And, finally, about you, Chuck. So Kandee is a Facebook friend. “Friends” do not lie about people they have never met! What was her motive? I cannot even try to guess. Did she ever call Kristie and confront her about what she was reading? NO! Did you ever do an research about Kristie? Did you ever call her? What do you “Know” about Kristie firsthand? I don’t know the first thing about you. Who are you to drag Kristie’s name through the mud with only gossip and conjecture? Did you have any clue about how hurtful you were being? What kind of credentials do you have to be able to smear a total stranger’s name?
I hope you get this, because I sure would like some honest answers to questions I have about how people, out of pure vindictiveness, contribute to destroying another’s life. Are you familiar with sps? Maybe you should Google it so you know what it is. A rare disease is 1 person in a million – that’s what makes it “rare”. There are about 7,000 rare diseases in the world. There is a web site called Stiff Person Disease that provides a forum for people to communicate. Read about the level of pain these people suffer (9-10). Read about how these folks cope and when they can’t. Read about their sympathy, spirituality, and empathy, prayers. and support when it seems like one is the only person in the world that hurts like this.
I do hope that I hear from you. Are you a journalist? Because if you are you have committed the cardinal sin in journalism…you did not verify. Neither did Kandee. And the “Hater” group? Of course they did not verify, they made all of that up, feeding off of each other, and hoping they would not get caught.
Sincerely,
Susanne Ljungren
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Susanne,
Bravo. You have stated this very well. I too believe in Kris and Brian. I will not lie and say that I did start to have some doubts and started to listen to the “haters”, but I spent countless hours speaking to both and I know in my heart that what you are saying is truth. I came to my own decision and was torn at what happened. I was also upset with myself that I did doubt for awhile. Especially when I did research some of the supposed public accusations and found the info to be totally WRONG.
Kristie has been through so much. No one deserves how she was treated incessantly through the internet, email, and the harassing phone calls. Breaking into their Carepages is intolerable. Whichever former “Angel” gave out the password should be ashamed.
I only wish them the best. I did receive an email in the past month that they were settling in, but I did not ask questions I only told them I was thinking about them and wished them both well.
Thank you for publishing this as I know there are many who do believe and have been looking for updates.
God Bless
Jeannie
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The person posting above is of course, Kristie or Brian. That’s what they always do, make fake accounts and fake posts trying to verify there story. They closed there blog because they were found out, simple. Paypal even sent back our donations. There was no such thing as a ‘hater group’ a group was simply formed to try and find out the truth about Kristie and Brian, and we simply found out after great investigation what Kristie was saying, was of course a lie. Do you think that we are really going to attack a truly unhealthy person? No. We’re not monsters. But when people lie about an illness in return for presents and other goodies such as money etc, constantly complain about the lack of medication, when there partner is a convicted drug addict, and also repeatedly get caught out in there own lies, it’s vile and disgusting. Why do you think the news stations didn’t want to do a follow up on Kristie and Brian? Because they found out what a farce it all was, and didn’t want to embarrass themselves. Thankfully Krians lies have finally been exposed, and people won’t be sucked in any longer donating to a cause which is based on fiction.
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I just got an email from Kristie & Brian after not hearing from them for over a year. And wouldn’t you know it, she had her bag stolen in Madrid and is asking for money to be sent through Western Union. This girl *seems* to have the worst luck! Here’s the scam-letter below that I just received this morning:
Hope you get this on time, I made a trip to Madrid, Spain and had my bag stolen from me with my passport and personal effects therein. The embassy has just issued me a temporary passport but I have to pay for a ticket and settle hotel bills. I’ve made contact with my bank but it would take me 3-5 working days to access funds in my account from Madrid.
Western Union transfer is the best option to send money to me. Let me know if you need my details(Full names/location) to make the transfer. I’ll refund the money back to you as soon as I return.
Let me know if you can be of any help.
Thank you,
Kris
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That’s an old scam. I’ve seen it a few times. It’s not from the person mentioned in the email.
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Well Chuck, one thing is for certain, your girl Kan-dee sure does like to talk… and talk… and talk ! 🙂
I thought “Stiff Person’s Disease” was…umm, oh nevermind
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To Susanne & Jeannie:
I too talked to Kristie during this whole episode in 2010. The problem with Kristie’s story and why Kandee got a bad vibe was Kristie always talked in circles. You could not get her to stay on track with what you were talking about. I finally gave up and allowed her to just talk. She talked about buying clothes and makeup with the money that was donated to her. She bought stuff for Brian as well as other things I will not mention. A person who only has three days to live would not be spending money on these things. Nor would they talk about starting their own fashion line with makeup, jewelry, shoes and clothes or going to school and starting a non-profit organization. She was planning for the future. At least that was what she was doing when she talked to me. I’m not speaking for the conversations with anyone else.
Another thing that was ungrateful in my book was she said people would tell her that they were praying for her and wish her the best. Her response to this was that prayers were not going to help. She needed to get her story out there and that she was disappointed in Kandee for not being able to just call Dr Oz, Dr Sanjay Gupta, Ellen or Oprah. ??? Who does that? Who is ungrateful about any support they get. Kandee did an amazing thing! No she didn’t verify the story to see if Kristie was a fraud. She was trusting that this poor woman was honest with her and that if she only had three days to live like she was claiming then she better get the word out. She put her reputation on the line for someone she believed was dying. She felt the need to do something for her because Kandee’s heart is so big and she is so trusting. It was only later after additional conversations that Kandee started getting the same “odd vibe” that I was getting.
I’m not saying that both of you are lying. I wouldn’t do that! I’m just explaining what the situation was with me and why I started to distrust everything she said. I’m not sure what is going on with Kristie now. She stopped writing to me or calling when they moved after the FBI got involved.
I know that she doesn’t want the prayers but she is in mine. I wish her the best because I do know whether or not her illness is life threatening, she’s does have problems that she needs help with.
I’ve never posted my side of the story so I hope this sheds some light on the subject.
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Three weeks to live not three days!
Sorry for the typos! I just realized I did that and had to correct it. 🙂 I’m not sure why I typed days instead of weeks. 😮
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Too Kristie and her family,
Kristie, I went to school with you for four years in High School. Though I didn’t know you personally, I know your heart was good and that you were not evil person. The girl I knew didn’t talk trash about people in the class either. She never said disrespectful things to people.
You seem to have a genuinely good heart. I believe in you and I believe you’re having a difficult time with your situation.
I write this letter here because I don’t know how to get a hold of you with information I have on what may help you a great deal.
Five years ago I began having a horrible nerve problems myself. They progressively got worse over the years. I wasn’t able to get medical help for it as I didn’t have insurance. No one was able to tell me why my body would go into incredible bouts of pain.
I ended up becoming devout Catholic and prayed a great deal. I joined bible studies groups and joined a group that did charity for people in need.
In time my nerves caused me such pain that I could barely move from morning till evening. I’d have to hold my breath as tears would stream down my face from the pain.
The people at the the church would pray for me. About four months ago I was asked if I’ve ever tried magnetics. I was like… Magnetics??? There was people from the church with different conditions like fibromyalgia that had their pain removed from magnetics they kept on them made for such things.
I’m not selling you a brand here or a product so I’m going to be vague with the info on it so that you can look into it yourself and so that they realize this is a genuine attempt from someone who knew Kristie that honestly has knowledge something that might help her.
One of the women from the church had me try an electronic magnet that spins at high speeds. While with her at her house, I was doubled over in pain and couldn’t move. She turned this thing on and I held it to my waste. Instantly I was able to move again without pain.
She gave it to me to take home to use for a while. They cost four hundred dollars or so. Expensive. But I was able to stop the suffering with it. I began using different forms of magnets made for healing. All of which helped. Sounds strange but it’s true. I work as a medical professional these days and doctors I talk to know very little about magnetics. It’s not understood by them.
This may not work for everyone. But it worked for me and the women who told me of it at my church. I believe it could very well help you with your suffering. I’d tell you the name of the specific product that worked for me. But instead I’ll just tell you that you plug it in and turn it on and the magnet in it spins really fast where you feel the thing vibrating in your hand.
Know that those who knew you when you were young know you’re a good person, Kristie. They don’t get wrapped up in negative talk about you. Bless you girl, that you’ve made it this far.
Try this form of therapy if you had not yet and give it a sincere try. This is coming from a man who knows what it’s like to suffer for so long without help. Continue to pray as well.
Sincerely,
Brian
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