Couple Lies About Having Sextuplets to Bilk Good Samaritans

Kris and Sarah Everson had some bills they just didn’t have the money to pay, so they came up with a great scheme to get people to help them out. Sarah, who worked at Clem’s Drive-In in Independence, began to tell her coworkers last spring that she was expecting sextuplets. Then, around Christmas time, she called around to tell people she had delivered the babies. In January she wrote a letter to friends and family talking about the delivery, even listing the names of the babies. She stopped by Clem’s with the list of six names and the weights of the babies.

The weights on that list were different from the weights listed in the information Sarah had given to Debbie Whisler, of the Blue Springs Chamber of Commerce, but that fact didn’t raise any red flags at first. Whisler had worked for weeks to raise money for the couple, sponsoring fundraisers and even donating substantial amounts of money herself. The Eversons' plea for financial help even included a Web site asking for donations, specifically gift cards or cash. Neighbors of Kris and Sarah Everson believed that there were six babies, even though no one ever saw them. But then The Independence Examiner got wind of the story, and that’s when things started to fall apart.

When The Examiner researched the story, reporters were shown pictures of Sarah pregnant, and also sonograms of six babies. But the sonogram was a collage of separate photos, not a single photo showing six fetuses together. The Eversons did not show the babies to reporters and would not let them speak with doctors. To try to clear up the confusion, Whisler went to the University of Kansas Medical Center and said that she had confirmed the birth of the babies. So Monday’s front page carried a photo of the couple holding up six tiny outfits. But there were no pictures of the babies.

Helen Brown, Everson’s former boss at Clem’s, said that she and Sarah’s coworkers never believed her claims of being pregnant. "She’s been pregnant 10 times since we’ve known her," Brown said. David Raasch, who knew Sarah and her former husband about five or six years ago through Maywood Baptist Church in Independence, substantiates the idea that Sarah has a history of lying about being pregnant. Raasch told reporters that he and his wife often had dinner with Sarah and her husband, and at about that time she announced that she was pregnant with at least six babies. He said Sarah even produced sonogram pictures of the multiple babies. "W were surprised and believed her fully," Raasch said, adding that church members began gathering food and necessities for her. "Then we were told that she had miscarried all the babies." After the alleged miscarriage, his wife received a few messages from Sarah, who stopped attending the church. Raasch said neither he nor his wife has heard from Sarah since then.

When Sarah’s story began to fall apart, The Examiner spoke with representatives of KU Medical Center, who denied that Sarah had ever given birth to any babies there. Neither Sarah nor Kris Everson would speak with reporters on Tuesday, so the paper ran a story about the possible hoax. Later that day the Eversons went to the Grain Valley police and admitted having made the whole thing up. The couple’s admission came as a shock to Whisler, who had solicited substantial donations on their behalf. Although Kris and Sarah Everson have not been arrested, Whisler is considering pressing charges. For now, the Eversons say that any money donated to them will be refunded.