Ashley Bemis, the San Clemente woman suspected of fraudulently collecting donations for California firefighters, previously concocted a “web of lies” involving the death of three “children” that she never actually had, according to some of her alleged victims.

In one bizarre episode, Emily Strickland of Mission Viejo streamed video of her 20-month-old son to prove to others he was still alive after Bemis, 28, claimed the boy was hers and that he had been killed in a car crash.

“It was a whole new level of crazy,” Strickland said.

The woman had hired Bemis as a nanny in 2010 through an online service that matches families with day-care providers. About 14 months later, Bemis told Strickland she was pregnant.

Soon, Strickland could see Bemis’ belly growing. However, one night Strickland said she saw Bemis remove a pillow from her clothing and later realized she wasn’t pregnant. “It kind of started my suspicions,” she said.

In September 2011, Bemis began taking Strickland’s son to Gymboree in Mission Viejo, a store specializing in children’s’ clothing and accessories, where she made friends with parents. She also began telling people the boy was hers and posted photos of him on two Facebook pages she maintained, Strickland said.

A photo provided by Emily Strickland of Mission Viejo allegedly shows Ashley Bemis, who is suspected by authorities of faking a pregnancy and creating a nonexistent husband to scam good Samaritans out of a least $11,000 in goods and cash.

An Instagram post provided by Emily Strickland of Mission Viejo allegedly shows Ashley Bemis, who is suspected by authorities of faking a pregnancy and creating a nonexistent husband to scam good Samaritans out of a least $11,000 in goods and cash.

A photo provided by Emily Strickland of Mission Viejo allegedly shows Ashley Bemis, who is suspected by authorities of faking a pregnancy and creating a nonexistent husband to scam good Samaritans out of a least $11,000 in goods and cash.

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An Instagram post provided by Emily Strickland of Mission Viejo allegedly shows Ashley Bemis, who is suspected by authorities of faking a pregnancy and creating a nonexistent husband to scam good Samaritans out of a least $11,000 in goods and cash.

A photo provided by Emily Strickland of Mission Viejo allegedly shows Ashley Bemis, who is suspected by authorities of faking a pregnancy and creating a nonexistent husband to scam good Samaritans out of a least $11,000 in goods and cash.



A photo provided by Emily Strickland of Mission Viejo allegedly shows Ashley Bemis, who is suspected by authorities of faking a pregnancy and creating a nonexistent husband to scam good Samaritans out of a least $11,000 in goods and cash.

An Instagram post provided by Emily Strickland of Mission Viejo allegedly shows Ashley Bemis, who is suspected by authorities of faking a pregnancy and creating a nonexistent husband to scam good Samaritans out of a least $11,000 in goods and cash.

On one page, Bemis again claimed the boy was her son and on another she dressed him up as a girl, pretending he was actually her daughter, Cheyanne, Strickland said.

Strickland discovered the Facebook photos and immediately fired Bemis.

However, soon after that, Bemis, in an apparent attempt to cover her tracks, told friends through social media, her son had been killed in a car crash by a drunken driver and the baby she claimed to be carrying had died earlier, Strickland said.

Bemis’ post drew sympathy from numerous Facebook friends. “This is one of the most heartbreaking stories I have ever heard!” one woman wrote. “In the past nine months Ashley and her husband have lost two babies!”

Bemis seemed comforted by the woman’s comment. “No words can explain the pain of losing a child!” she responded on Facebook. “Blake and Shailynn (whom she claimed were the names of her children who had died) will be in our hearts forever.”

She also claimed her third child, Cheyanne, had died from a heart defect.

For Strickland, the deception was more than she could bear, prompting her to include her son in a video chat with Joe and Katie Vanderwende, a couple with a young son whom Bemis had met at Gymboree.

“I wanted to prove he was still alive,” Strickland said.

Katie Vanderwende, who lives in Rancho Santa Margarita, was stunned when she saw the video and realized the boy was not dead and actually belonged to Strickland, not Bemis. “I was just relieved he was still alive and safe with his actual mother and terrified there was a woman out there creating this web of lies,” she added

Strickland, who obtained a restraining order against Bemis, reported her former nanny to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. “They told me it was morally wrong,” she said. “They said it was weird but it’s not a crime to be crazy.”

Years earlier, in 2008, Bemis left her job with Wags and Wiggles Dog Daycare & Training Facilities in Rancho Santa Margarita after she submitted a phony ultrasound as proof of her pregnancy as part of her employment records, said Laurie Zurborg, who owns the business.

“We found it did not have her name and was something she downloaded from the internet,” Zurborg said. “She allowed many people and our employees to give her baby showers, gifts, money. She wore a fake baby bump to her job for many weeks.”

Last week, Sheriff’s Department officials said they are investigating the scam in which Bemis allegedly created a nonexistent husband to bilk good Samaritans out of at least $11,000 in donations she claimed would aid firefighters during the recent Holy fire.

The investigation began Aug. 17, when Sheriff’s Department detectives were notified that Bemis had posted on her Facebook page and another belonging to a group named San Clemente Life that she was married to a Cal Fire firefighter named Shane Goodman and was collecting donations because her husband and his crew were not getting the supplies they needed.

Detectives used a national database to determine no such firefighter existed with that name at Cal Fire or any other fire department in the United States. Furthermore, Bemis isn’t married and doesn’t have any children, said Carrie Braun, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Department.

Although Bemis took a few donated items to the Holy fire command post, investigators found hundreds of additional items worth at least $11,000 in a garage at her residence and a “secret stash” in a second garage.

Bemis has not been arrested and is cooperating with the investigation, Braun said. She could not be reached for comment.

However, Bemis apologized for her string of deceptions in a letter sent June 2012 to longtime former friend Lorie Christman of San Clemente.

“No words seem to be good enough to express how wholeheartedly sorry I feel for the pain and disappointment and feeling of being conned I have caused you,” Bemis wrote. “And I know to you all this may just be words, but I am sincere when I say I am so sorry, and that I have gotten and continue to get help through a therapist.”

A motive for the suspected Holy fire scam has not been disclosed. However, some victims speculate Bemis may have been selling the donated items.

At least a dozen people, some from as far away as Arizona and San Diego, have told investigators they donated items to Bemis, Braun said.

Anyone who donated items or cash to Bemis is asked to stop by the San Clemente Police Services Station, 100 Avenida Presidio, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday to fill out a short questionnaire to identify their items.