Body is found in search for woman

A BODY has been found in a search for a pensioner who went missing during the cold weather in the early hours of yesterday.

Helen Maider was last seen at around 6am at the junction of Balmuildy Road and Stirling Drive in Bishopbriggs.

Sergeant Adam Hookway previously said officers and the 89-year-old’s family were concerned due to the cold weather while Ms Maider has also “started to have issues with her memory”.

A statement yesterday confirmed a body had been found during searches of Bishopbriggs but it had not been formally identified.

THE victim of a “sadistic” internet scam has spoken of the emotional trauma she faced after falling for a man online... who turned out not to be real.

Trusting Kate O’Flaherty was approached in a Twitter group by a young man called Cillian O’Donnell and the pair hit it off.

Before long they had swapped numbers and were speaking on the phone – Kate in Dublin and Cillian in Glasgow – every day.

But the online romance was brought to an abrupt end when Kate was told Cillian had died by suicide, leaving her devastated.

Then, in a bizarre and alarming twist, the 20-year-old discovered her bereavement was nothing but the twisted fantasy of a female internet fraudster.

Cillian O’Donnell did not exist – he had been invented by a sick scammer who the Evening Times has chosen not to name.

Kate, who is still recovering from her ordeal, said: “It wouldn’t be uncommon for me to make new friends on Twitter. I was in a group that was supporting people who were struggling with mental health. It was a great idea with 40 to 45 people in it.

“Not many people knew each other but there was no reason to be suspicious.”

Of the group, Cillian stood out to Kate and they started talking to each other.

She added: “He had a lot of pictures of himself and he was really charismatic. This person started messaging me in private and we started talking. We’d have phone calls and text messages every day for six weeks.

“I find it hard to find people in relationships who understand me because I struggle with my mental health, so when I started talking to this person and I had a lot in common with this person it felt like I could trust them.

“We talked every day for six weeks. Then they told me they loved me and I said the same back.”

From there, Kate naturally wanted to meet her new friend in person and so they arranged for Cillian to fly to Dublin to visit.

He even shared a screengrab of his flight booking details with her.

But just before he was due to arrive in Dublin, he called the meeting off. This pattern occurred three or four times.

Kate said: “If I complained then they would make me out to be making it all about me, that I was selfish.”

Cillian told Kate about his life, saying he was a Celtic supporter and was vegan.

He said he was a budding singer/songwriter and would send Kate clips of him singing songs.

At one point he said he had been discovered by a record label in London and she shared his excitement as he said he was moving to the city.

With the highs, Kate also shared Cillian’s lows, saying he would speak to her for hours about issues in his life.

And this is one of the bizarre elements of the deception – Kate swears Cillian sounded male.

Later, when she used an app to search for the songs he had sent her, Kate found they had been stolen from the Spotify account of a different man.

After several more weeks, Cillian contacted Kate to say he felt unhappy and she agreed it was time to finish the relationship.

A few nights later Cillian began phoning her.

She said: “About 4am I started getting calls from this person I saying, ‘I love you, I miss you, I can’t live my life without you’. “I said no, it was over.”

And this is where the situation takes a truly sinister turn.

Kate was contacted by a friend who asked if she had seen Cillian’s Twitter page.

Kate said: “My friend said to sit down and take a deep breath and keep calm and then they sent me screen shots of these tweets supposedly posted by his sister saying Cillian had passed away.

“I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is my fault. It’s all my fault.’

“My mum was as convinced as I was that Cillian was real. The pair of us broke down.

“I couldn’t sleep, I was devastated.”

At this point, while she was grieving a person she believed she had loved, Kate’s friends started to have doubts.

One friend contacted a woman on social media who Cillian had said was his ex-girlfriend.

Kate said: “She replied, ‘Does this guy live in Glasgow and is a vegan, age 23, and a big Celtic fan?’

“Then the girl said ‘That’s not a real person.’”

The two women had been through the same situation with the same fraudster... but the other woman’s ordeal had lasted for more than a year.

And she revealed the name of the woman behind the scam.

The Evening Times believes she has had multiple victims in a scam known as catfishing over years.

We visited the culprit’s home

He had a lot of pictures of himself and he was really charismatic