BETTENDORF, Iowa — Editor's note: The video above is from Jan. 24.
The woman accused of faking cancer to solicit more than $37,000 in donations had many items confiscated from her Bettendorf apartment during a search warrant on Monday, including cash, medical equipment and a 2023 Kia Sportage.
As of this publishing, 19-year-old Madison Russo is out on bond, which was paid for by an individual with the same name as the GoFundMe organizer, Tom Boulund. News 8 has attempted to contact him many times but has yet to get a hold of him.
The search warrant completed on Jan. 23 recovered the following items:
- Medical equipment such as an IV pole, IV tubes and medical bandages.
- 2023 Kia Sportage.
- $346 in cash.
- An iPhone with a black case.
- A brown wig.
- Two different planners.
- Four pages of emails from "Coach Chela."
- Financial statements with bank information, including information about another person.
- Two prescription bottles prescribed to another person.
- Receipts.
- Gift cards.
- Michael Kors purse.
Other court documents say that Russo will be in court on March 2 at 11 a.m. for her arraignment.
Those who have donated to the fake GoFundMe can still receive their refund by visiting www.gofundme.com/contact/suggest/donor to fill out a claim form.
The form requires the donor's full name, phone number, e-mail address, the link to the fraudulent campaign (which can be accessed by clicking/tapping here), the way they came to know of the fundraiser or its beneficiary and the reason for the refund.
Donors can also provide a short statement of their concerns as well as any relevant photo evidence in the form of a JPEG or PNG image or a PDF file.
Eldridge police are also asking those who donated to Russo's fundraiser to contact the department at 563-285-3916 or by emailing them at police@cityofeldridge.org.
Watch more coverage of this case on News 8's YouTube channel