Texas teen Angie Gomez lied about having leukemia

A Texas teen is facing felony charges for faking cancer in order to bilk community members out of thousands of dollars, authorities said.

Angie Gomez, 18, of Horizon City, collected more than $17,000 in donations through her Achieve The Dream Foundation, a phony group she created earlier this year she claimed would help children beat leukemia, according to charges filed earlier this week.

In January, the pretty brunette told her friends, church members and classmates at Horizon High that she was suffering from terminal blood cancer and had just six months to live.

Her friends, parents, church members and other locals, rallied around the cause, throwing a special prom and other fundraisers to help Gomez fight the disease.

Hundreds gathered at motivational talks and fundraisers, where Gomez spun stories about battling leukemia from age 2 until 13.

She claimed that the disease had recently come back and wasn't curable.

A website for the foundation, which has been pulled down, showed a smiling Gomez, clad in a T-shirt with the organization's logo and the tagline: "Behind every fighter there is a supporter. Will you be mine?" the Associated Press reported.

But a three-month investigation concluded earlier this month found out that she was a fraud.

"There is nothing to indicate she had cancer," Horizon City police Detective Liliana Medina told the El Paso Times. "There are no medical records, no doctors."

Investigators subpoenaed the phony foundation's bank records after someone complained that the peppy brunette appeared happy and healthy in June - six months after she claimed she was dying.

Hospital records showed that no one named Angie Gomez had been treated for cancer at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., or at St. Jude Children's Hospital, where Gomez had claimed she practically lived as a child.

Bank records showed that Gomez raised more than $17,000 in cash, checks and other donations in the sick swindle.

Some community members said they suspected Gomez may have been a phony, but they never spoke out.

"You almost felt guilty if you had a suspicion," Nicole Matsuda, 28, a local church leader, told the Associated Press. "How can you question someone who is dying?"

Police filed state felony charges against Gomez earlier this week. She has not been arrested.

The district attoey's office is reviewing the case before considering an arrest.

Gomez has not commented on the charges and, and a sign posted in the window of her parents home said "No comment, call the detective."