> ROMANCE PREDATORS
expressing strong affection and attraction, when he didn’t know anything
about me,” Wheaton recalls. “I expressed [that] to him. I said, ‘I’m concerned that you’re getting too attached
and we don’t even know each other yet.’
That’s one of the things they do, is they
flatter you.”
Wheaton and Slyd grew closer as they
continued to talk on instant messenger.
He emailed her three times a day, often
quoting poetry. He sent her pictures of
him with his daughter, and of the house
where they lived. Two weeks in, Slyd
shared with Wheaton a past tragedy that
had defined him: his wife had died while
giving birth to their second child, and
the baby hadn’t survived either.
When Wheaton had doubts – and she
remembers having plenty of them, especially when Slyd called her and his
accent sounded French, though he said
he’d grown up in Germany – she prayed.
“Throughout the whole relationship,
HUFFINGTON
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I kept trying and reading my Bible,” she
recalls. “And every time I tried to seek
guidance in that area, I would get something that confirmed that I needed to
continue this relationship.”
Wheaton’s suspicions were strong
enough early on that she threatened to
cut off communication with Slyd if they
didn’t meet in person. With that, he
promised to come to Grand Rapids to
visit her.
Slyd said he was traveling to Spain
on business and bringing his 12-yearold daughter with him. But the plan, he
claimed, was to come directly to Michigan from Spain.
When he arrived in Spain (if he was
actually ever there at all), mishaps began. He told Wheaton that customs
agents at the airport seized his cash.
He said his daughter wasn’t feeling
well and that he just wanted to get her
someplace safe, so Wheaton says she
wired him $2,000 to pay for his hotel
room for two weeks. Then he needed
$5,000 for legal fees.
Wheaton felt that Slyd’s story didn’t
“T he people who believe
that there is an ideal perfect
person out there are the
people who are more prone
to being victims of the scam.”