A Montgomery County woman raised thousands of dollars to help a man battling advanced-stage pancreatic cancer.
One problem, Traci Small Kratzer never gave most of the money to Jay Henson, said county prosecutors.
“Help Jay Henson (Deven Eberz husband) beat Cancer!!!!” said the YouCaring page that Montco District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said Kratzer created after Henson, of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, was diagnosed with cancer about nine months ago.
Henson’s wife Deven said they never asked Kratzer -- who knew the family -- to set up the page and that when she asked Kratzer about the money she would give excuses before she eventually cut two checks for $970 each to the family.
Investigators uncovered that 90 different donations totaling $10,221.68 were deposited into Kratzer’s Wepay page via the YouCaring page from May 17 to July 15. Investigators said that she used the more than $8,000 difference to buy items at McDonald’s, Target, Toys’R’Us, Rite Aid and Sunoco until the account went into the negative.
More than 20 of the donors told investigators that they never gave permission for the money to be used for anything besides the Henson family -- the couple has 4- and 7-year-old daughters, said investigators.
Kratzer, 39, of East Norriton, was arraigned Tuesday on theft charges, according to court documents. Prosecutors planned to seek restitution for Jay and his family.
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"You can't give up, you can't," said Jay.
Anyone who wants to help Henson’s cancer fight can click here to give money via MyJayBird.com. The site, started by Henson’s sister-in-law, has already raised $5,000 for the family.
"I can't even begin to thank them enough," said Jay.
