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Police: Woman Scammed Families By Pretending To Be Terminally Ill

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Tammy Yoney is breathing a sigh of relief now that Kiley White, 26, has been arrested.

She was arrested last Thursday by Egg Harbor Township Police in New Jersey and charged with theft by deception and harassment.

kylie white mugshot
(Photo Credit: Egg Harbor Township Police Department)

"I'm actually really happy. I hope it forces her to get the help she needs," said Tammy Yoney. "She needs to be off the streets because she's hurting too many people."

Tammy knows all too well what other victims are going through. In the most recent case out of New Jersey, police said White took advantage of a family for nearly five weeks and convinced the family she was terminally ill.

In October of 2016, the Yoneys spoke to KDKA-TV about a similar scam.

In this scam, White claimed she had terminal cancer and asked the Yoneys to adopt her 4-year-old daughter when she passed away. However, the family found out ahead of time the girl wasn't White's daughter.

At the time, then-22-year-old Morgan Yoney needed a double lung transplant.

"She's taken so much time from our lives those weeks she was in our home and in a hospital bed with Morgan. I feel like she's taken so much of our time it just makes me sick," said Tammy Yoney.

morgan-tammy-yoney
(Photo Credit: KDKA)

Morgan, who's now 24, said she's moved on since White tricked her family, and was excited to hear that White finally got charged. Morgan is now focusing on getting better after a recent episode that sent her to the hospital, and now a broken ankle.

"I was excited. She's been doing this so long she never got in trouble until now which is way overdue," said Morgan Yoney.

Morgan said White did try to reach out to her on Facebook after the scam.

"She tried to add me on accident then she realized it and blocked me then tried to add it again then blocked me so I blocked her so now she can't see my stuff," said Morgan Yoney.

Police said White used similar tactics on other families in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and was never charged with a crime. On each occasion, she has preyed on the sympathy and compassion of others, receiving services and goods from those victims whom she scammed.

During the investigation, Egg Harbor Township Police discovered that White pretended to be other individuals as well, including her own hospice nurse. In fact, KDKA received multiple calls from other people after the Yoney story ran in 2016 claiming they were also targeted by White.

"I think she would have continued to do it. She has no remorse for it," said Tammy Yoney.

The case is being investigated by Egg Harbor Township Detective Robert Harte of the Criminal Investigations Division.

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